Happy Valentine's Day

 “Just Thinking”

Happy Valentine’s Day, the day of Love, Amore, When the moon hits your eye like a big pizza pie, that’s amore. This year Valentine’s Day falls on a Friday, there wont be an empty table in any restaurant anywhere, if you don’t have a reservation, you better be picking up some roses. The Valentine’s Day traditions include exchanging cards and flowers, chocolates and going out to dinner and, of course, wearing something red. Children in school exchanging cards and candies with classmates.

What about some of the awesome candies that are unique to Valentine’s Day; Conversation Hearts, the small, pastel-colored candies with messages like "Be Mine" and "Love You.". Heart-Shaped Box of Chocolates, Red Hots Cinnamon Candy Hearts, Hershey’s Kisses wrapped in red, pink, or silver foil, M&Ms Valentine Edition, Gummy Hearts, Jelly Belly Valentine Jellybeans and Pink & White Marshmallow Peeps.

Valentine’s Day is the feast day of St. Valentine. Who was St Valentine and why is his feast day associated with love and romance? I did some research and found a couple variations of his story, when combined, they do draw a direct line to the holiday that we celebrate today.

St. Valentine was a Christian martyr who lived during the Roman Empire. It is believed that he was a priest who defied Emperor Claudius II’s ban on young soldiers getting married. Valentine secretly performed weddings for these solders believing that love and marriage were sacred. When his actions were discovered, he was arrested, while in prison, Valentine healed the blind daughter of his jailer and prior to his execution he wrote her a farewell note signed “from your Valentine,”, the origin of the modern tradition of sending love notes. He was executed on February 14, around 269 AD.

Today is also the anniversary of a more infamous event, The St. Valentine’s Day Massacre on February 14, 1929.

This is the gangland killing that took place in Chicago, during the height of Prohibition. It was a violent clash between rival gangs fighting for control of the city's illegal alcohol trade. Seven men from Bugs Moran’s North Side Gang, were lined up against a garage wall and shot execution-style by four unknown gunmen. Two of the shooters were dressed as police officers, leading the victims to believe it was a routine police raid. Once they were unarmed and lined up, the gunmen opened fire with Tommy guns and shotguns.

History believes that the shooting was coordinated by Al Capone, the leader of the Chicago Outfit, as part of his plan to eliminate Moran and take over his territory. Capone himself was in Florida at the time, providing an alibi, no one was ever convicted for the killings.

This is also the anniversary of the death of Captain James Cook who was killed on February 14, 1779, in Hawaii during a conflict with Native Hawaiians in Kealakekua Bay. He was a famous British explorer and navigator best known for his three voyages to the Pacific Ocean. He was the first European to go to Australia & Hawaii. 

Have a great Friday and a wonderful Valentine’s Day, kiss the people that you love.

Let me know what you think.

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