Valentines Bridge the Miles

Valentines Bridge the Miles

“Words can be happy, words can be sad.” These intriguing words were found on the front of a hand-crafted valentine we received in 1980 from our daughter, Virginia, living in far off Maryland. When opened, the words continued, “They can say: Love to Mom and love to Dad.” This is only one of the many valentines we’ve received from ‘Ginger’ since her profession as a librarian has moved her far away from home. With work schedules, and the high cost of travel limiting family visits, these words and hundreds of others have helped bridge the miles between us.

One of America’s first women to succeed in her own business did so because of valentines. On Feb. 14, 1847 Esther Howland of Worchester, Mass. Received an elegant homemade valentine that delighted her so much she started making and selling them through her father’s stationery store, the next year. The sales were so overwhelming, she had to hire a staff of young women and set up an assembly line in her parents’ home, just to fill the first tremendous sales. She soon became known as the “Valentine Queen of America” and in a short time was earning $100,000 a year, a lot of money back then! Valentines sent through the years have even become collectors’ items. Our daughter has rescued many old valentines from garage sale boxes or flea market dealers, beginning a collection of her own.

As for our collection, it continues to bridge the miles in memories. One year a card came with two white swans swimming on a vivid green background and expressed this poem from our daughter’s heart. "As you wander along life’s streams,Take time for each other; For love and for dreams."

A small card in 1986 starts out, “Wishing a very Happy Valentine’s Day to---” and inside it resumes “an all star couple!” This card has a large heart with red and white stars and stripes, quite different from the lace and ribbon ones. A tear-jerker came in 1974 and held a heart shaped picture of a loving pose of me and my granddaughter, Kristy, taken the previous Christmas. No words were necessary.

In 1977 Ginger sent embossed gold reproduction of the first-known Christmas card, and in place of the usual winter scene she added a lace heart to the center and the magic words, “Happy Valentine’s Day,” for an incomparable greeting. Ginger has spread her valentine ingenuity over the whole family, and we love sharing our newest examples of her art.

One year she sent a small bag of jigsaw puzzles pieces to each of her sisters and brother as well as us. They were to put their pieces together and bring them all home to add to ours to make a complete picture. The completed picture turned out to be a large fancy heart covered with all types of valentine candy, big enough to cover our folding card table. Truly an inspired idea, as it encouraged all our children to come and see us, as well as to finish the picture.

Our son, Owen was born on February 14th. So he usually receives birthday greetings entwined with valentines. One that comes to my mind is highlighted with a large mustache, big red nose , funny glasses and a pipe, and read “No glasses, white mustache, or pipe so…” When the card was opened, the message proclaimed, “I predict many more happy birthdays” written around a heart and a birthday bear.

A valentine received in 1987 tells the story of our married life while raising six children. Who has since left the nest and made homes of their own. The front of the card is a “full house” of playing cards of Kings and Aces, and the inside says, “You once had a full house, and now it’s just a great pair! And Ginger had added the King and Queen of Hearts.”

Ten years before her card to us featured two hearts with pictures of famous couples and carried the message, “When thinking of great pairs--you are the greatest,” which really made us smile. The remembered cards are preserved in a scrapbook that contains precious memories from all our children and grandchildren, through school years to the present time.

Gingers is even farther away these days, living in the middle of Australia. I wonder if our valentine this year will have a kangaroos or koala bears on it. Whatever is on it, we know it will certainly be loving and unique.

Published in the February 1993 issue of Kanhistique of Ellsworth, Kansas
And yes that Valentine Day our card had a kangaroo bouncing on the front.

Story ID:	1565
Written by:	Gail Lee Martin (bio, contact, other stories)
Organization:	Kansas Authors Club
Story type:	Family Memories
Location:	El Dorado Kansas USA
Year:	1993
Person:	Gail & Clyde Martin & daughter, Ginger