Dispassionate evaluation might lead one to best understand Valentine's Day as an annual reminder of one's obligations to social life. For those without love -- unrequitted or otherwise -- Valentine's might likewise demonstrate a certain recalcitrance in their contribution to making the world go around for their opposite number. But they'll save a bunch of money.

Is love expensive?

Sure is. First off I must pick up a nice card and a box of chocolates. Then, depending on circumstance, either take Jane out for an evening of fine dining, or enjoy an elaborate candlelight dinner she has planned and executed as a "surprise" for me.

Actually Valentine's Day has turned into one of Jane's and my most important yearly events; better than our birthdays, Mother's Day, Father's Day, our anniversary, or even Christmas, The reason why Valentine's is so important is that it is private, for both of us alone. Now that no rug rats are running underfoot, we rattle around in a big house, just the two of us. But come St. Valentine's Day, were grateful for all that privacy; for the opportunity to get warm and cuddly without shame, disgrace, ridicule, or any embarrassment we might produce in others.

As shown above, though, love is expensive, even for a one-night-per-year extravaganza with the light of your life. And the Good Lord knows it's even more expensive when weighted with an entire lifetime of togetherness. The expense of true love cannot be measured, however, by mere money, mere time, or mere labor. Neither can its benefits. Some of those benefits come home as dividends on those lovers' own special day. Here's proof:

True love, is, in reality, a fine investment. Research discloses happily married couples live longer, have happier, more complete lives. By pulling together as a team, they're often better off economically. Too, they tend to be more physically sound and mentally stable. They're inclined more to patience, understanding, forgiveness, and compassion.

During our early life together I used the chits garnered on Valentine's Day as springboards to outdoors adventure during the rest of the year. Then Jane grew curious about the attraction of traveling to remote places and asked to come along. With her entry into my outdoors' game plans came a parallel change in my own desire to visit far places without her. Now all the chits both of us have accumulated during the last couple of decades lie dusty and unused.

There is simply no way either Jane or I could buy the benefits love for each other has generated in our lives. In what market could it be found? It can't be located on Costco's "five and ten" table, or anywhere among WalMart discounts. There's nothing in any catalog, Amazon doesn't carry it, Niemann-Marcus sold out the week before I asked, and L.L. Bean is out of stock.

Yes one can save in the short run by not investing in love. But over the long haul, love will outperform the money market or stocks and bonds. You won't find love listed in the Wall Street Journal or Dun & Bradstreet. It is the stuff of great literature, though. And you'll see the product of it on faces everywhere, especially on St. Valentine's Day. This guy Cupid is special; more believable than Santa, more traditional than Thanksgiving, more explosive than the Fourth of July.

You want your spouse to give a little when fishing season rolls around? Then give a bunch on Valentine's.

 

Next week? Another walk on the wild side.