Today's Helping of Chicken Soup for the Soul

[Guest guest]

A Valentine for

By Don Caskey

Ann, a friend of mine, disliked Valentine's Day as a girl. She was plain - not

ugly, but not beautiful. Valentine's Day is not kind to plain girls. It wasn't

so bad in elementary school, when the obligatory thirty valentines arrived: one

from each classmate. She overlooked the fact that her cards were not oversized

like those of the popular girls, and did not contain the love notes like those

of the pretty girls. But later, in middle school, the valentine exchange was no

longer mandatory. Just when the yearning for romance budded, when the desire for

admiration and flirtation became imperative, and a valentine was needed most, no

card arrived. Not for Ann. Not for plain girls anywhere. Only for the pretty and

the popular. At such a time, stories of ugly ducklings that will one day turn

into beautiful swans do not assuage the hurt and rejection.

As fate would have it (and often does), in subsequent years Ann did become

pretty and turned many a boy's head. As she received more attention and

flirtations, she came to feel - and therefore to be - very beautiful. But even

years later, grown and with a family of her own, she did not forget those

long-ago days of rejection and dejection.

Today, Ann's family includes two boys in middle school. For a dollar, their

Student Council will deliver a Valentine's Day carnation. Ann gives a dollar to

each of her boys to buy flowers for their girlfriends. Then she adds another

dollar apiece with the instruction: " Pick another girl, one who is nice but

plain - someone who probably won't get a flower. Send her a flower anonymously.

That way she will know that someone cares, and she will feel special. "

Ann has done this for several years, spreading Valentine's Day a little beyond

her own world.

One year, , who was plain to behold but beautiful to know, received one of

these gifts. Ann's son reported that was so happy and surprised, she

cried. All day long, she carried the flower on her books and chattered with the

other girls about who her admirer could be. As Ann heard the account, she too

had to dry her eyes - for she remembered.