Valentine’s Day is a special day to celebrate the most beautiful emotion on this universe called Love. This is the time when you can express your deep love and affection with different creative ideas and make the day memorable for that special someone. Some unspoken words in the form of valentine’s cards or love quotes can do magic in your life. Will you be my Valentine?

I would like to share a Saint Valentine’s story with you if I may. I hope you enjoy this story:

Let me introduce myself. My name is Valentine. I lived in Rome during the third century. That was a long, long time ago! At that time, Rome was ruled by an emperor named Claudius. I didn’t like Emperor Claudius, and I wasn’t the only one! A lot of people shared my feelings.

Claudius wanted to have a big army and he expected men to volunteer to join. Many men just did not want to fight in any wars. They did not want to leave their wives and families. As you might have guessed, not many men signed up. This made Claudius furious. So you may be wondering  what happened? He had a crazy idea. He thought that if men were not married, they would not mind joining the army. So Claudius decided not to allow any more marriages. Young people thought his new law was cruel. I thought it was preposterous! I certainly wasn’t going to support that law!

Did I mention that I was a priest and one of my favorite activities was to marry couples. Even after Emperor Claudius passed his law, I kept on performing marriage ceremonies — secretly, of course. It was really quite exciting. Imagine a small candlelit room with only the bride and groom and myself. We would whisper the words of the ceremony, listening all the while for the steps of soldiers.

One night, we did hear footsteps. It was scary! Thank goodness the couple I was marrying escaped in time. I was caught. (Not quite as light on my feet as I used to be, I guess.) I was thrown in jail and told that my punishment was death.

I tried to stay cheerful and do you know what? Wonderful things happened. Many young people came to the jail to visit me. They threw flowers and notes up to my window. They wanted me to know that they, too, believed in love.

One of these young people was the daughter of the prison guard. Her father allowed her to visit me in the cell. Sometimes we would sit and talk for hours. She helped me to keep my spirits up. She agreed that I did the right thing by ignoring the Emperor and going ahead with the secret marriages. On the day I was to die, I left my friend a little note thanking her for her friendship and loyalty. I signed it, “Love from your Valentine.”

I believe that note started the custom of exchanging love messages on Valentine’s Day. It was written on the day I died, February 14, 269 A.D. Now, every year on this day, people remember. But most importantly, they think about love and friendship. And when they think of Emperor Claudius, they remember how he tried to stand in the way of love, and they laugh — because they know that love can’t be beaten!

So, I hope you enjoyed my story. Celebrate the spirit of love and togetherness with a special message in the form of love poems or romantic valentine sayings. To spend quality time with your partner you can try many romantic ideas from a romantic dinner to watching a romantic movie. So, open your heart and express your emotions on this Valentine’s Day with a gift of Roses…