So am I in for another disappointing Valentine’s Day? For sure. My husband will be away on a work assignment and I will miss him. I will be home alone wishing if I could watch an hour of TV. But we are cheeky sometimes. We have often talked about people spending a good amount of money in the name of this Valentine’s Day. We also talk about flower sales and Hallmark cards flying off the shelves and I drift immediately to the happy thought—if only I owned a flower shop for this particular day. We agree that this is just another day, but we also agree with those who remember to celebrate love. Love should not be about a particular day; love is always there, we just have to spread it.

Back in the day, my husband used to send flowers to my office to make up for our rather meaningless fights. I think the last time he gave me a bouquet of flowers was back in 2012. I have never kept track of this but somehow, it is still fresh in my mind. Despite me following suit, with my husband forgetting to celebrate our union, I wish he had not. I know it is not fair to put the realm of remembering important dates solely on him but sometimes, I cannot help being selfish.

Then, one fine day, when I am in a not-so-good mood, I will start casually conversing about how he barely pays attention. I start narrating stories about what my friend’s husbands gifted them. I know deep down that this is not important but it is just not easy to look away when it is all over my Facebook. I know he is not listening and I continue until our little daughter interrupts. When he doesn’t listen, I get even more upset. I make sure he listens. But he won’t. And there I am, shouting from the bathroom telling him to answer to our daughter, which he does, but what matters is that our little girl is happy. We are happy.

Be there, everyday

Suddenly, the gifts my friend’s husbands get them are not important. Naturally, I only wish for him to be there—be there with us completely. Talk to us, reach out to us, hug us, and laugh with us and at us. After a short stint of me complaining endlessly, he will say something funny and I laugh, our daughter laughs. We laugh together. He has a good sense of humor, I convince myself. By now, I have forgotten the bouquets completely. The only thing that is important right then is that he and I are sitting next to each other, talking about some unimportant things in our lives. That is what I want every day.

I do not think I could wait for Valentine’s Day to spend some quality time with my two beautiful valentines. What I want is love, laughter, and attention every day; no bouquets or gifts can ever suffice.

Giri-Bohara is Communication Coordinator at Save the Children