That Mysterious Valentine

Courtesy Free Images     
     Valentine's Day--a holiday for lovers, school-children who suprise their friends and teachers, restaurants with candlelight and music, crooners and blues singers. Cupid--the Roman God of Love and the son of Venus--the goddess of Love, was represented by a young boy with a bow and arrow. His shots are often lethal and he does not discriminate between gods and humans. February has been the month to celebrate love
     Centuries after the death of Jesus Christ, Roman emperors required their citizens to believe in Roman gods. A Christain priest--Valentine--was thrown in jail for his teachings and was said to have cured his jailer's daughter of blindness. He was to be beheaded for the miracle and his religious instruction. The night before he died he wrote a letter to the jailer's daughter and signed it "From Your Valentine."
     Another tale and another Valentine--an Italian bishop was imprisioned for secretly marrying couples during the reign of Claudius II in the third century. The Emperor thought that single men were better soldiers than married and outlawed marriage in order to establish a stronger military. When Valentine disobeyed the Emperor, the Emperor had him put to death.
     During the middle ages, the custom of choosing a sweetheart on February 14 spread through Europe  and then to the American colonies so Happy Valentine's Day everyone.

Elise
    

LOST AND FOUND

Photo by Olgalis Dreamstime.com

    

     Sometimes a former love will become a character in one of my short stories or books. The outer appearance will change—at times it’s an improvement—but his essence becomes part of a new man. The outer shell may be used later in another character.  I guess you can change someone for the better although we’ve been told you shouldn’t even try—but that’s in real time not in fiction.

     The first—a neighbor with the stereotyped red hair and freckles usually found in descriptions of mischievous boys—pulled my braids because he liked me. Much to my mother’s dismay, I chopped off the braids. In a short story, the hair remained and a romance began.

     In my teens, I danced all evening with a fellow who made me feel like the most beautiful, intelligent and charming woman in the world. But we were two different faiths and he was studying to be a minister. I later heard he became a television producer instead. His faith lost a lot of converts but I gained writing material.

     Then there was my season as an apprentice in summer stock. I met an actor who was jobbed in one week to star in a play and we met after the show. He wanted to go into the wood and explore, I just wanted to talk about Shakespeare. We both were disappointed. Both in theatre and writing—use the material.

     As we mature, we often travel different paths from people we once held close but memories come back when we write and their traits, manners and features often appear in our stories.

     I offer a toast to those that we once loved and haven’t completely lost.

Bests,

Elise