Valentine's Day

Kids amaze me -- especially the bright, talented students at Harrisburg Academy, where I work. For example, read Kate's Valentine's Day essay by clinking on the link at www.harrisburgacademy.org/about us/latest news. What beautiful prose, what a logical premise -- love is abstract... why be concrete? What idealism! Gotta love that about youth.

Is she right?

Hard to argue with love is "commitment and respect, every hour and every day." But I've got to admit: I like chocolate... and what's wrong with a little bling once in a while.

I thought to myself, well, maybe the problem's with our "national" holidays. Maybe we need new ones. So I wracked my addled brain (there was a lot of traffic on the way home yesterday) and frankly, I couldn't come up with anything new. After all, there's some value in the ones we already have, even if we aren't sure who St. Valentine was. Here's the value I see:

Martin Luther King, Jr. Day = justice
Valentine's Day = love
Presidents Day = leadership
St.Patrick's Day = merriment (and everyone loves the Irish)
Passover/Easter = renewal
Memorial Day = remembrance
Fourth of July = patriotism
Labor Day = work ethic
Columbus Day = discovery
Veterans Day = remembrance again (we've got a lot to remember)
Thanksgiving Day = gratitude
Hanukkah/Christmas = light

I say let's keep our national holidays and try to remember what they stand for -- most of the time. A little bling never hurts either.