Posts on ‘February 8th, 2012’

With Valentine's Day coming up next week, I thought I'd post some humor on love and marriage. Many people do little or nothing special on Valentine's Day, for one reason or another. But for others it's a neat time to remind others of their love for them.

I'll start this post off with a personal story. When I was a high school French student, my French Grandma Loach worked out a penpal situation for me with grandchildren of several of her family members in France. My penpals were cousins of mine who were high schoolers studying English. We not only enjoyed getting to know each other by letter, but we also delighted in sharing aspects of the culture of our respective countries with each other.

With Valentine's Day coming up, I bought cards with a message something like "Be My Valentine, Cousin" and mailed them. They wrote back, politely thanking me. However in her reply, my cousin Annie expressed bewilderment, explaining that in France, Valentine cards are exchanged only by sweethearts or spouses. She included a French Valentine card for me to see. She wondered how in the world I found a card for a cousin! I had to write back and tell her that holidays are so commercialized here in the US that you could probably find a card made especially for your cousin's dog's veterinarian.

Believe it or not, I still have that card she sent me over 35 years ago! Here's a scan of the front of that French Valentine card:

Knowing the reputation of the French for romance and knowing that Valentine cards are exchanged only by lovers, I was a little nervous about opening the card, wondering what steamy message I might find inside. Since this is a family-friendly blog, I almost blush to show you what I found. However if you have the courage to continue reading (caveat lector), here's a scan of the message inside the card:
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