valentine ecards – Page 2

Origins of Valentine’s Day

St. Valentine’s Day may well be believed to be a Western Civilization holiday, commercially created by candy makers and florists alike. But in actuality, St. Valentine’s Day has been celebrated for ages, since around 300AD. There are quite a few legends of lore that tell the tale of St. Valentine and his quest to protect the sanctity of marriage and the rights of lovers.

A popular legend has St. Valentine as a Roman Catholic Priest in the 3rd century AD, who secretly performed forbidden marriage rites, much to the displeasure of the Emperor at the time. He was caught and sentenced to death, and as legend has it, he died sometime in the middle of February.

Another legend tells the tale of St. Valentine imprisoned to be put to death for angering the Romans, all the while being visited by the enamored daughter of the prison warden. St. Valentine fell in love with her, and before being put to death, sent her a love note signed: “From your Valentine”.

Whichever legend holds the truth or if the real story is something else all together, what matters most is that St. Valentine was to the world a figure of romance and heroism, and was someone to be celebrated. February 14th could have been chosen to commemorate St. Valentine because it was his final day, or because the French thought it marked the beginning of the bird mating season; either way February 14th is a day for romance, for young lovers and old lovers, those who are married and those who are single. He gave the world hope and an ideal to achieve. Whatever legend you believe, St. Valentine is someone to be remembered, so this year on Valentine’s Day, do what St. Valentine would have done and send your loved one a love note. The most romantic ones can be found here at GotFreeCards.com. “Let live and let love!”

Who needs Valentine’s Day anyway?

Before you shoot me, let me explain. I am not against love or expressing love or any such thing. In fact, I look forward to Valentine’s day as much as anyone else. (Mostly because I like to catch all the mushy movies on TV, but that’s a different story!) But, think about it. Who really benefits the most from Valentine’s Day?

It’s not the people who have been in love with each other for years. They already know how much they love one another. It’s not the newly weds. They are already in love and have just sealed it with wedding vows. The new lovers? Nope. They are too starry eyed to think about everlasting love and such things at the moment.

You may not want to admit it to yourself, but the ones who benefit the most from Valentine’s Day are businesses, stores, greeting card companies. There, I said it.

Well, let’s say Valentine’s Day is a day to express one’s love for a special someone – not that you need one specific day to do so, but that’s another subject, again. So where do cavity-forming chocolates, environment-unfriendly greeting cards and budget-breaking gifts come into play? Since when has love become a commodity? Why do we need material expression to reinforce the most intangible, powerful and life-giving force on earth? Love is after all, that which cannot be measured, quantified, defined, compared or forgotten, isn’t it? So, how come we have reduced it to something that can be expressed with a box of candies or a bottle of perfume, even if they are the finest?

I just don’t get it. To me, the most beautiful expressions of love are those that are known to and shared only between the two people concerned. Maybe an understanding smile, a meaningful glance, a shoulder rub, a kiss, a timely hug, a hot cup of cocoa when it’s most needed, a concerned phone call, a tight embrace…

Maybe an occasional love note or greeting card would be nice. But to be honest, when I see aisles and aisles of the same stuff in every store – heart-shaped pillows and teddy bears and chocolates – and I realize that at least a thousand other women will be getting the very same thing from their ‘one’, I pretty much lose interest in those gifts. They hold no meaning, no special place in my heart.

What I value most is the unique way in which two people express their love for each other, to each other. Not just on Valentine’s Day but all through their lives. Those special moments, which like our free ecards are personal and unique.

That’s what I call the perfect gift!

So, this Valentine’s Day (and every day), don’t forget to personalize your expression of love. Buying a gift or a greeting card is easy. But to make your expression special, make it your own. After all, isn’t that what you love about each other?

What is Valentine’s Day

When I met my husband, I was excited for February and our very first Valentine’s Day. I was also quite nervous as streams of questions traveled through my head. What should I get him? What will he get me? Does he know it is Valentine’s Day? Should I remind him? Do I make dinner reservations or does he? I decided the best way to handle my nerves was to talk about it openly with him and ask him what he wanted to do and what our budget was for gifts. So romantic, I know! His answer: “Oh, Valentine’s Day is my brother’s birthday, so we’ll have dinner at my parents’ house to celebrate.”

I was of course, devastated, and thought that if I became serious with this man, that the rest of my

Valentine’s Day dates would be spent with his parents! After a few years of Valentine’s dinners with my in-laws, I started to see the benefits and the joys to having a Valentine’s celebration with family. Not only did we never have to make dinner reservations at an overbooked and overpriced restaurant, we got to enjoy the company of loved ones at the same time and same place each year, to celebrate love and birthdays. Valentine’s Day shouldn’t be about the stress of what gift to get and what restaurant to eat at. It should be about simple things like love and good company. Don’t let your loved ones forget it, send them Free ecards from GotFreeCards.com for Valentine’s day, remind them what February 14th is all about.

Valentine Ecards for my husband

If you have popped in to any store lately, you are well aware that Valentine’s Day is right around the corner. There are big red candy boxes on the first aisle when you walk in, teddy bears for sale holding red hearts and red balloons, and even boxers adorned with little cupids for sale. And even though all of the merchandise is fun and festive and would make anyone smile, the thought of purchasing anything for Valentine’s Day still stresses me out!

I want to make sure that the gift for my husband is perfect, that it is not too corny, but also not too UN-corny. Flowers are not for my husband, and he doesn’t eat sweets, so I tend to go for the more home-made gifts. One year I made him a gift card that was good for things like a back rub, or breakfast in bed, and another year I had the kids make him a card with their picture in it. So this year, we’re going to do that again, with the help of GotFreeCards.com. I am going to create FREE printable cards at GotFreeCards.com, with pictures of me and my kids and my own corny sentiments, print it out, and give it to my husband for Valentine’s Day. It will be the perfect gift, with the perfect amount of Valentine’s Day corniness.