Saturday, February 13, 2010

Saturday Night Genealogy Fun: My Funny Valentine

Here are the instructions for tonight's Saturday Night Genealogy Fun from Randy Seaver:

1) Recall a memory of a Valentine's Day in your life. Is it the first love of your life? A special day with your lover, spouse or significant other? Do you have a picture of a Valentine's Day event, or a special Valentine that you received, to share?

2) Describe your Valentine's Day memory, activity and/or image in a blog post of your own, a comment to this blog post, or a comment on Facebook.

3) Have fun remembering a special day.

Back in my mother and father's day there was a song called "My Funny Valentine." Frank Sinatra and Ella Fitzgerald did renditions of it, among others. It was written by Rodgers and Hart, and the words were something less than complimentary but the sentiment was "Don't change a thing; I love you the way you are." Kinda sweet, in a backhanded way. But "My Funny Valentine" probably should be the theme song for my husband and me, not simply because neither one of us would win any contest for good looks (especially now in our old age), but more because humor has been a huge part of our lives and our relationship. So this SNGF won't pick on just one memory, but on the general tone of Valentine's Day around here.

We usually go for the humorous in the cards we get for each other on this day. Not the insulting humor that has such a place on the card racks -- though some of those are quite funny as well. Usually we go for the humor that reflects the absurdities of life, the little sillinesses that make life sometimes bearable in the face of increasingly disgusting news from the real world. We like the cards with puns, and the sillier the pun the more fun it is. As for our celebration, that usually revolves around food -- tomorrow night we will go to a favorite steak house that we reserve for very special occasions such as this, but do not get to visit often because it is quite expensive! Valentine's day comes one week before our anniversary, which adds a little to it, too. Next weekend, for our anniversary, we will be attending a symphony concert program of the music of John Williams. That will be fun.

And fun is a key word in any activity. Sure, an activity can be meaningful and helpful to others and contribute positively to society and all that good stuff, but if an activity or a relationship or any other thing we put our minds to can't be fun, why bother?
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