A Curious Statistical Anomaly

Today is Valentine’s Day and I suspect that many people will be sending cards or ecards to their special someone. Most will have X’s on them to represent kisses. I found this bit of an article on Valentine’s Day at How Stuff Works interesting:

How about the “X” sign representing a kiss? This tradition started with the Medieval practice of allowing those who could not write to sign documents with an “X”. This was done before witnesses, and the signer placed a kiss upon the “X” to show sincerity. This is how the kiss came to be synonymous with the letter “X”, and how the “X” came to be commonly used at the end of letters as kiss symbols.

Whether you deliver your Valentine his or her kiss as an X or in person, I hope everyone enjoys the day with someone special — family, lover, special friend, children, grandparents — whoever gives your heart joy.

Hyperion and I will spend the day together — just enjoying each other’s company. We’ve been married 20+ years and we still love to just spend time together. That is a gift I treasure.

It’s difficult to put into words just what one person can truly mean to another, and have it make any sense to a third person. When I say that Gayle completes me, I’m not insinuating that I couldn’t live without her, or any such silly sap as that. Obviously I managed to live for a couple of decades without her before she came into my life. But rather, I mean that being with her magnifies the joy life provides. Her strength gives me the courage and determination to do things that I simply wouldn’t have tried without her. Ten years ago we took a trip to Australia and toured half the country. Would I have bothered to do that alone? No, I’d have saved the money. But with her, it was one of the most memorable experiences of my life. Would I have the job I have today without her? No, because I knew I was completely unqualified for it, and never would have applied without her encouragement.

So, to Gayle, who brings richness and belief in the impossible to my life … happy V-Day!

“You are my sun, my moon, my star-lit sky. Without you, I dwell in darkness.” And it will never go away.

This entry was posted on Sunday, February 14th, 2010 at 2:10 pm and is filed under Hearth and Home, Holidays. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.