I admit it.  I am a sap.  I love Valentine's Day.  I mean, what isn't to like?  It's a day devoted to sex and candy, and grand declarations of love.  Upstairs just a few minutes ago, someone proposed to his girlfriend as she was getting off the elevator from work, complete with balloons and a trumpet player, and a song he sang just for her.  I don't even know this person--I was just walking through the lobby to our office--and I got all verklempt.  How can you not be swept along by the hopefullness and joy of a moment like that?

 I get why some of my more stoic friends find all this mushiness to be too much.  I know all the statistics about divorces, and I recognize the consumerist underpinnings of it all, and I know about conflict diamonds and abusive relationships and blah, blah, blah.  I know that if you are alone and wish you weren't, all of this might feel like a reminder of that, some other way society is telling you that you are less-than because you are uncoupled.  But I nonetheless think love is worth celebrating.  What else in your life makes you feel so gosh-darn good?  What else makes getting up and slogging through the more unpleasant parts of your day seem worth it? 

 It's Valentine's Day!  Go love someone.  Spread happiness.  Maybe eat a cupcake.