Valentine

Valentine was an early Christian, living in the second or third century AD. He lived in Rome, and at a time when the Emperor was clearly keen to be expanding the Empire. It was important to the Emperor that the soldiers in his army had no distractions, and so he decreed that they were not to get married.

This wasn't very popular. Valentine took pity on the love-lorn legions and would provide an important service of blessing couples' unions in the eyes of the Lord. Unfortunately, the Emperor got wind of this, and Valentine was arrested, thrown into jail and sentenced to death.

Imprisoned, Valentine met the jailer's blind daughter and fell in love with her. He healed her of her blindness, and on the morning that he was led out to be executed, he passed her a note, professing his undying love, signed: "From Your Valentine".

And the rest, as they say, is history.

Not that any of the above could be called history. There were a couple of early Christian martyrs named Valentine, but other than that, the rest is embellishment that has been added over the centuries. Still, makes for a good story.

I was very lucky today - I got two Valentine's cards, but they were both from my one true love. There was a film theme going on - one said "Truly, Madly, Deeply", whilst the other one quoted the famous, wonderful, heart-melting line spoken by Renee to Tom in Jerry McGuire. You know the one!

I'm in love!