How Dan Cupid Came to My House Every Year

When I was growing up, Valentine’s Day was a very big deal at my house. It was my parents’ anniversary. They were very romantic. They believed in establishing a lot of traditions to make all kinds of days special. At our house, Dan Cupid came every Valentine’s Day. He may not have come to your home quite this way, so I will share the story.

We would all be having supper–my dad, mom, both of my brothers, and me. As is typical my folks would be getting up from the table now and then to put more food on the table, pour milk, or whatever. In the midst of all that, the front doorbell would ring. “Kids, go see who is at the door”. Knowing what was going on we’d squeal and run for the front door. We’d fling the door open. No one was there, but there was a pile of what used to be called ‘penny valentines’ each in an envelope. We’d grab them and run back to the table and sit down, placing the valentines on the table. Pretty soon there would be a knock on the back door. We’d run to the back door and open it. There was another pile of valentines. Again we’d grab them and run back to the table and sit down. the process would repeat for about maybe 20 minutes.

Finally, the ringing and knowing would stop. We’d open the valentines and on the back of each one was written ‘from Dan Cupid’ or ‘from Guess Who’….We would be almost breathless from racing each other from table to door to table to door. The valentines were for all of us–no names on the envelopes. Besides that, there was always a dish of those tasty conversation hearts on the table. My brothers and I were great fans of this whole tradition. As a matter of fact any tradition my parents began was repeated forever. My mom often jokes “in our family once is a tradition”. Dan Cupid came to our house every year…long after we each grew up..through high school and college and beyond.

Fast forward to the first Valentine’s Day after I got married. My dear husband is very romantic. I got home from work before he did. He came home bearing a box of Godiva chocolates and a dozen roses. He brought home a lovely steak to cook for supper. We sat there eating dinner….and…no doorbell….no knocking…eventually I burst into tears….sobbing and crying…and very homesick 1,000 miles from home. He, of course, was baffled. “What is wrong, sweetie?”he asked.  “Dan [sob] Cupid [sob] isn’t coming I guess” I  [sob]” He said. “Huh???”. Up until this point I thought Dan Cupid came to his (and every) house too. We had never discussed it…..so I told him. He comforted me. We finished dinner. We did the dishes. He made coffee and sat me down in the living room of our apartment.

Then he said he needed to run up the street to the grocery store and pick up a few things, but would be back soon. He kissed me goodbye and turned on the TV for me. After awhile, there was a knock at the apartment door…..the door by the kitchen. Because of fire code, there were two separate doors into the apartment. One was by the kitchen, the other by the living room. Out in the hallway those two separate entrances were separated by a fire door. Anyway, there was a knock at the door by the kitchen. I opened the door and…DAN CUPID HAD COME!!! Lo and behold there was a pile of valentines. I picked them up and put them on the kitchen floor. Before I could sit back down, oh yes, there was a knock at the living room door. I opened it up—another pile. I happily dashed from door to door for quite some time. Then the knocking ceased. I took the pile to the couch and sat down. On the back of each valentine was written “from Dan Cupid” or “from Guess Who”… I was so happy. After awhile my husband came home. I gave him the biggest hug and kiss EVER. What a guy. He said with a grin”i could have saved some big bucks, eh?” I just laughed.

We continued that tradition to this day. We raised our son with that tradition. And THAT is how Dan Cupid came and still comes to my house. Love is in the air. Love is in so much of what we say and do. Happy Valentine’s Day!! I hope Dan Cupid comes to your house today.