First-year Charlie Robinson smiles outside her childhood house on her first day of second grade in August 2009 at the age of 6. This was months before Robinson received her first Valentine’s Day gift in February. Photo courtesy of Charlie Robinson
Roses are red, violets are blue, everyone has a Valentine’s Day memory, that’s true.
Valentine’s Day is celebrated in and outside of the classroom, according to History.com. Children everywhere buy candy to share with the class or for that special someone. Regardless of how Valentine’s Day is celebrated by adults, there will always be special memories of how children have celebrated the holiday.
“I’ve always loved Valentine’s Day from the time I was really little,” first-year Charlie Robinson said. “Making paper bags to receive lollipops and sweet notes always felt so fun to me.”
While the exact origins of Valentine’s Day and an explanation as to why people exchange gifts with loved ones on Feb. 14, is not as easy to pin down, the traditions still hold, according to History.com.
Junior Dave Kenner said the fun lasted well past class dismissal because he would take the candy he was given throughout the day home with him.
“You would end up with 20 to 30 pieces of candy,” Kenner said. “I would always get a sugar crash that night from eating it all.”
Junior Dave Kenner glances away, showing off the kiss left on his cheek in 2007 when he was 6 years old. Dave remembers Valentine’s Day growing up very fondly as a day filled with candy. Photo courtesy Dave Kenner
While some remember the feeling of being stuffed full with candy and sugar highs, first-year Jacob Eminger said he will remember being shot down his then-crush rejecting him in the sixth grade after sending her an anonymous candy gram, forever.
“Right before she was about to leave, I shot my shot, ‘Hey Sofia I hope you liked your Valentine’s Day gram; will you be my Valentine?’ After an awkward silence I got my answer,” Eminger said. “‘I’m sorry but pizza is my Valentine.’ That line will be ingrained in my head for the rest of my life.”
People share colorful Valentine’s with messages of admiration and candy. First-year Nora Mclaughlin said she remembers receiving cheesy cards throughout elementary school.
“At my elementary school we would decorate our Valentine’s day boxes and then we would all go around and put candy and colorful cards with silly rhymes on them in the boxes,” Mclaughlin said.
Since their creation in the mid-1800s, Valentine’s Day cards have been a staple in the festivities practiced by children. Valentine’s Day typically sees close to 145 million greeting cards exchanged among people in the United States, according to the Greeting Card Association.
Robinson said she will always cherish the first Valentine she ever received when she was in second grade from a shy boy in her class.
“I came back to my desk to see a very nervous boy, Anthony, handing a small red box with a golf tee on it with the quote ‘Tee My Valentine,’” Robinson said. “I opened the box to see a pair of earrings and a matching necklace, bronzed hearts. I looked back at him and smiled. ‘It was all my Dad’s idea. He made me do this for you.’ I smiled and thanked him. I hadn’t even had my ears pierced yet, but I had my first Valentine and he didn’t need to know that.”
Charlie Robinson strikes a pose in front of her childhood home in San Clemente, Calif., in 2009 at 5 years old. Robinson remembers her childhood as one filled with laughter and cherished memories. Photo courtesy of Charlie Robinson
For Robinson, the admiration shared between children on Valentine’s Day is both love in its purest form and something she will cherish forever, she said.
“I think a second grade Valentine is the sweetest form of love we have,” Robinson said. “The sentiment of giving a little extra something to those you love is a holiday I’ll celebrate happily any day of the year, always remembering Anthony and his crooked, shy smile.”
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Email Audrey Geib: audrey.geib@pepperdine.edu
