Every Valentine’s Day, we find ourselves panicked and wrapped up in Valentine’s Day traditions; wondering if we should ask someone out, debating what to write on a card, hoping that they will absolutely love the gift. While this holiday often focuses on romance, it’s also a time to appreciate the relationships in our lives.
But have you ever wondered how your teachers celebrate Valentine’s Day? Although, at school, we don’t get to see this more spontaneous and romantic side of them, they celebrate this day like everyone else. We asked some of our teachers here at LACES to share their most memorable Valentine’s Day stories, and their answers were heartwarming, hilarious, and a little unexpected.
Mr. Adam Tan: “I know that my wife likes chocolate-covered strawberries. So I was like, I’m going to make my own chocolate-covered strawberries for her. Which I did. But I used baking chocolate that doesn’t have any sweetener.
So unsweetened chocolate. I thought that the strawberry would be sweet enough to bring out the chocolate. I presented them to her with flowers and a card. She bit into the first chocolate-covered strawberry and tried not to make an unhappy face. The chocolate was extremely bitter. It was not offset by the sweetness of the strawberries. I have now learned to buy them and not make them myself. With this Valentine’s Day coming up you can be sure I will buy a red velvet cupcake which she really loves as well.”
Ms. Monica Fernandez: “My most memorable was actually with my significant other now. We had been going out for a month or so, and he took me on a dinner date for Valentine’s Day. He brought me a small gift. It was a frame with a picture of myself but on the day that we met. I thought it was a beautiful picture and an original gift because he put thought into it. He looked for the picture and the frame himself. So, fast forward a few years later, I figured out that it was a self-gift. Somebody had given him the frame and he didn’t like it. I almost died. I was like what the heck.”
Mr. Ranko Petrovic: “I only have one Valentine’s Day that I have celebrated with a boyfriend. That was in 1999 when I studied in Rome. I had an Italian boyfriend who was very into Valentine’s Day stuff, although I had never celebrated Valentine’s Day or anything so it’s a big deal. This was really special to me because he took me to the Colosseum. We also had dinner at the Colosseum. Then afterward we went up to this lookout point where there was a huge bunch of orange groves. You could see all of Rome from there. Then we also went to St. Peters lookout. It was pretty cool. But then we broke up two weeks later. But that’s what was so interesting because I thought it was the best day of my life.”
Valentine’s Day is clearly a day full of surprises- sweet, funny, and even bittersweet. Whether it’s a homemade gift gone wrong or a romantic moment under the stars, it’s the thought behind the day that makes it truly special.
