A Valentine Gift
My son's religion teacher told her class the "true story of Valentine's Day. It seems that a long time ago there was a Bishop named Valentine. Bishop Valentine helped young couples get married. Christian marriage had been forbidden by the Emperor Claudius. Bishop Valentine was arrested, put in jail and beheaded for doing this. Before he died he sent a note to his friends and signed it, "From Your Valentine", a phrase that has lasted through the centuries.

In 496 A.D., Pope Gelasius chose Bishop Valentine to be the patron saint of a day celebrating true love. This day became known as Valentine's Day.

The Valentine Jar
Instead of filling a jar with chocolates, my husband, my daughter and I each wrote "loving deeds" on little paper hearts. One night after supper we sat at the table and shared what we thought were loving deeds, for example, "a big hug", "a smile" and so forth. We placed the jar filled with hearts in the middle of the table. All day on Valentine's Day, we would pull out a heart and do what it said to do.