I’ve talked about my views on Valentine’s Day a few times before, ranging from sharing my creative, albeit sick, artwork to advice on what the best gift would be. The truth of the matter is that I’ve never enjoyed Valentine’s Day, not even when I was in a relationship. So thank you, Stutter, for making me finally appreciate the day that Hallmark made up.

Strutter told me, a few weeks back, that she didn’t want flowers. A lot of men will start laughing at this point, because we know that all women will SAY that because they don’t want to come across as demanding. I believed her, though. I still believe her. And because I believed her, I figured she was worth flowers. (Also, she works in a building full of women, and I didn’t think it’d be cool for her to watch a bunch of undeserving women getting flowers all day when she, the most deserving, wasn’t going to get any.) So I ordered the flowers probably a couple of days after she’d said she didn’t want any.

Strutter had given me my present just after midnight the night before. It was a CD I’d been trying to get for over a year, but it kept getting back-ordered, and the three times I tried to purchase used versions fell through. The best part about this present, aside from the fact that I really wanted the disc, is that I mentioned it, in passing, one time around her, over a month ago, when both of us were pretty drunk. The fact alone that she remembered it would have been present enough. The fact that she ended up purchasing is from some guy in the U.K. just blew me away. I’ve been listening to the CD ever since. (And keep thinking it’d be awesome if we had a drummer’s circle in Columbia… and if I had a little hand drum to take to said drummer’s circle.)I had Strutter’s presents waiting at my house. I gave her a trumpet, along with a how-to-play-trumpet book. I was a little nervous about this, because she’d been wanting a trumpet since her birthday last August, and the asshole she was dating at the time didn’t deliver on his promise. It might have been viewed as me trying to prove that I’m better than him. (And maybe, subconsciously, I was.) I was also a little nervous that she might pick it up and start playing it, thus destroying my already-damaged eardrums. But all of that nervousness vanished when her face lit up. She pulled it out and put it up to her mouth and blew out a single pitiful note. (“I made it honk!”) Even if she never picks it up again, that moment was worth the price.

I also threw in another little gift. It was a children’s book called Guess How Much I Love You. I’d written a little note in it as well, and then let Teddy and Furry Mongo (who is Strutter’s little bear who has sort of moved in with Teddy) sign it with me. I figured this would be a little more special than a card.

Strutter also doesn’t like going out to eat, which is awesome. I’d much rather have dinner at home where we can snuggle and watch television and be ourselves instead of sitting across from each other in a booth surrounded by strangers and crying babies and fuckwits. So I told her I’d grill steaks if she picked up salad on the way over.

We had our Valentine’s Day dinner on the floor of my living room, while we watched Wheel of Fortune. There was no pretext of formality. No airs put on. It was just two people, in jeans and tee shirts, being themselves around each other. It was the best Valentine’s dinner ever. (Don’t get me wrong, if she wanted a sit-down dinner, I’d take her wherever she wanted to go. She’s worth it.)

After dinner, we watched television for about thirty more minutes while snuggling on the couch, and then decided to head to bed early and watch television while we fell asleep. We were both pretty sleepy…