Love From Appreciation

by Maria
(Middletown, DE)

Reader Post: 'I have never been one to have a Valentine... much less a boyfriend. Until I was engaged and married, I never had a special someone to share Valentine's Day.

In college, a fundraiser took place during Valentine's Day. You could buy balloons, add a message and have them delivered to your Valentine and the money went to some special cause organized by a sorority or fraternity.

The hallway in the girl's dormitory was always filled with helium balloons waiting for the owners to find them after class. It was really cute and fun and entertaining to walk your way through the balloons to get to your room.

One Valentine's Day, one dozen balloons were in the hallway left unclaimed. A knock came to my door and my friend said, "These balloons are for you." Wow! I was really surprised. Those balloons were in the hall until almost nightfall. I never expected they could possibly be for me. I had no special someone and no romantic interest in anybody.

The note that came with the balloons were from a boy I met (through another male friend). We had many fun evenings watching TV together, hanging out, laughing -- never anything romantic. The note simply stated that he thought I was a nice person and that he enjoyed hanging out with me.

This was so special to me because back then, I didn't think much of myself. I never thought I was pretty enough, thin enough, smart enough, etc...extremely insecure. The fact that someone just liked me for being me and purchased one-dozen balloons just to tell me this left me speechless. NO ONE (male anyway) until then had shown me this kind of genuine kindness. No strings attached, no romance, just pure kindness and appreciation.

I still carry that special memory with me to this day. It makes me smile and it was the day that Valentine's Day went from worst holiday to my favorite holiday.'