February 14, 2006
Valentine
I’ve nothing against Cyril, the monk, and Methodius, the bishop, who were missionaries to the Slavs in the ninth century, but I do take issue with giving them today for their festive occasion. By all rights it belongs to the third century Valentines (there were two of them) who, of course, are relatively quite obscure and had so far as we know nothing at all to do with hearts and flowers associated with their names.
Nevertheless, only St Bah of Humbug would take issue with all the little paper hearts and candies proliferating in public school classrooms this morning. Surely word of this has got to the Supremes and the ACLU. But just as surely, we can hope, they skipped Sunday School often enough to have missed out on whether Valentine had any connection at all with, heaven forbid, anything religious.
Nice thing about the day, mayhaps, is to remind us if ever so faintly that love is here to stay, and that the tune by the same name was George Gershwin’s last. Here’s the lyric (with apologies to Q’s number one hug and my friend and mentor Barbara C who always thinks of this sort of thing first):
It’s very clear, our love is here to stay
Not for a year but ever and a day
The radio and the telephone and the movies that we know
May just be passing fancies and in time may go
But oh, my dear, our love is here to stay
Together we’re going a long, long way
In time the Rockies may crumble, Gibraltar may tumble
They’re only made of clay
But our love is here to stay