Real stories: My best Valentine’s Day ever

We love our readers! We love them even more when they share their stories with us. Get ready to saw “aww” because these three Valentine’s Day stories are sure to make your heart warm.

Birthday joys

Cheyenne Knopf, marketing manager for OnLine Binding, shares her story:

“For me, Valentine’s Day has never been about that one special someone, but rather two special people. On Feb. 14, 1980, my parents received a phone call from a local lab letting them know that they were pregnant. They already had two boys and my mom was hoping desperately for a girl. At that time, finding out what you were having wasn’t as big of a deal as it is today. My mom waited nine months and when she gave birth, she was blessed with her baby girl.

In the past 30-something years, she has always called me her Valentine’s Day present. Every year, she makes it special by giving me something that warms the heart, and many years ago, I received a large bouquet of flowers at work. I moved away from my hometown for six years and she still continued the tradition! I have kept the cards through the years and have wonderful memories of Valentine’s Day. It’s not the typical day most women hope for, but for me, it’s the perfect day, as I was blessed with the two most loving, caring and dedicated parents ever.”

Long distance love

Sheila Rodriguez was in a long-distance relationship and hated being away from her love on Valentine’s Day. In order to make them feel closer, here’s what she did:

“I created a brand new email account and sent her the address. I told her she would have to figure out the password by Googling the answers to a series of questions. The answers to the questions were various numbers that matched the letters of the alphabet to spell out the password. For example, “How many players are on the field for a team in baseball?” Google shows you the number 9 which translates to the letter ‘I’ in the alphabet.

After a tedious scavenger hunt, the password was “I love you” and she was able to see the three emails I left in the inbox. The first one had the subject: “#1 let’s set the mood” where I instructed her to click the link below, and then open the second email. The link was to a YouTube video of a crackling fireplace. The second email had the subject: “#2 turn it up” which had one of our songs playing. Finally the third email had the subject: “#3 My Love…” which I wrote 25 things I loved about her and a message about how much she meant to me. She said it was her best Valentine’s Day to date. It’s not much, but it was creative and all I could really do from so far away (in addition to mailing your standard flowers/candy).”

Small town sweethearts

Kirsten O’Conner, a teacher in Pennsylvania, was literally swept off her feet:

“I live in a very small town — a place where everyone knows your name and knows your business. As a single woman, I looked to date men outside of this close-knit community. I can’t tell you how many dates I’d been on in a span of the five long years I was single. I tried every dating website, tried to meet people at my church, tried to meet people at other churches, and still, no one struck my fancy.

Then, one day, I was grocery shopping and bumped into an old friend from high school. He and I hit it off in conversation right there in the middle of the cereal aisle. We got caught up for about 30 minutes until finally making a plan to go out that Friday and catch up. Neither of us realized it, but it was Valentine’s Day! We went out with a “no pressure of Valentine’s Day” feeling and thoroughly enjoyed each other’s company. Seven years later and we’re still together, happily married, with three beautiful children… And I said I didn’t want to date anyone in this community!”

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