Good mail and Valentine's Day

As I mentioned at Christmastime, I love getting good mail. Upon getting the mail, I used to comment to Camp that everything in the mail was "lame." Later, Camp started getting the mail for me and asking me if it was lame. Now, he just opens the box, pulls out the mail, and says, "Lame, lame, lame!" And most of the time he is right: bills, credit card offers, grocery store ads, and the like. But once in a while, I get something good. Recently, I have gotten a few good things--my real simple magazine, and Meg's wedding announcement! Congratulations, Meg! I can't wait to be there!
And talking about mail has gotten me thinking....Have any of you ever seen the Charlie Brown Valentine Special? If you're interested in a real tear jerker, this is the movie for you. It's not a tear jerker because it's so happy. It's a tear jerker because it is positively the most depressing cartoon that has ever been written.







You see, the story begins with Charlie Brown carrying two little suitcases to school on Valentine's Day. "Why?" Linus asks. Because Charlie wants to make sure that he has a way of carrying home all of his Valentines. Well, the class party is underway and the Valentines are being passed out and all of the kids are loving it--well, all of the kids except Charlie, that is. He doesn't receive a one. NOT ONE! Come on, man. Where are Linus and Snoopy in a time of need? I don't know. All I know is that Charlie Brown walked home that day with a very sad face and two empty little suitcases. And THEN (this is where the mail part comes in) Charlie wonders if maybe someone mailed him a Valentine, and it just hasn't gotten to him yet. Nope. So the movie ends with one of the kids in Charlie's class giving him a used Valentine. Pathetic.
I wonder if this movie is so hard for me because it reminds me of some of my own experiences. In seventh grade, I experienced a Valentine's Day that almost ended as bad as Charley Brown's. At my school (like many of yours, I'm sure), one of the clubs made Valentine-0-grams that you could buy and have delivered to your friends. Well, I went home from school one day and mentioned them to my mom and how I knew I wouldn't be getting any. So Valentine's Day came and I was sitting in my sixth period class, and the Valentine-o-grams started coming.--just like in the Charlie Brown movie. I remember feeling sad and awkward and lonely--wishing I had friends to send me a Valentine. Before too long, the most wonderful thing of my life (almost) happened. I heard my name called! Someone had sent me a Valentine! Man, I was so excited! And then my name was called again, and again, and again. I got like seven Valentines! Ann, the girl with no boyfriends--and no friends, for that matter--had gotten some Valentines! Who were they from? My wonderful mom, of course. Good ol' Mom. I think that was the day that I realized that there was no one in the world as great as my mom...