share the love on Valentines day

This is the day that we explore and celebrate our love for other. Some may say that its a load of rubbish and why do they need a commercially endorsed day to show love for our partner?? I assume this is spoken by men???

My husband and I write letters or do research and try to find the poem that sums us up as a couple, instead of buying cards. We always feel that bought cards are words from someone else's view point and not our own personal relationship. I like simple words, rather than long meaningful "I love you because..." and then a whole list of things. Simple to the point poems. I like it when he researches this because (and you may think this a little silly) I like to think that he has thought about me and what he is going to write, without me being there!!! - that makes me sound really high maintenance doesn't it!!

For me, this year, he says he really thought that the poem that he found and it summed things up nicely. I was touched by what he had written, Its written by an old favourite of mine, Shakespeare (this my husband knows) and it read "I love thee, I love but thee, with a love that shall not die, till the sun grows cold and the stars grow old"...hmmmppphhh I love my man, he knows me soo well.

So where did February 14th begin.....let me explain.
It began when Rome was at its strongest during the Roman Empire. In the middle of February they would worship the God of Fertility by the men choosing their mate. When Claudius became emperor he outlawed marriages, thinking that husbands wouldn't leave their wives to go into battle.
Young couples who fell in love still wanted to get married though and consulted the catholic priest VALENTINE. Valentine then started to wed people in secret. Claudius found out about this and ordered Valentine to death. In prison, however, Valentine began writing letters to the jailer's daughter and they fell in love. On the day before his execution, he wrote "to my love from your Valentine".
When the Christians took over, they outlawed this pagan festival and replaced it with something more appropriate and decided to set a day in February to worship St valentine the martyr.
In 1969 the church removed the day from its official calender.

So it is no longer what is known as a religious festival but more of a tradition.

So my thought for this entry is...do you continue with the tradition and if so, how to you show your partner that you love them???