Friday, February 15, 2008 Roperos: No longer with roses By Godofredo M. Roperos Politics Also
TRUTH to tell, I was not about to write anything on hearts and Valentine celebrations. After having lived through more than three quarters of a century among friends and kin that daily need a “piece” of your heart and mind to help them go through with their harried lives, you develop an ability to accommodate all sorts of demands from those who are close to your heart.
And you realize you live “Valentine’s” everyday.
Well, that might be an exaggeration, but really there comes a point when you just believe expressing Valentine’s with roses has somehow grown passé and no longer as exciting. Right now, I have already nine grandchildren, thus I decided to forego with looking at Feb. 14 with excitement and thrill as when I was thirty, and Mrs. Roperos still in her early 20s. Now, she is in her early 70s.
But the other night, on Valentine’s eve, our son Auel and his wife Gingging disappeared from the house with three of their four sons (the eldest is in the university in Los Baños). When they reappeared, they were loaded with all sorts of desserts.
Auel said that since it was Valentine’s eve, he decided to give them a modest treat out. Gingging did not want to be treated with roses that wither right afterwards, and would rather accept a “sarsi” fruit. So she did.
Not wanting to be outdone, my daughter Mafette informed us that she receives from her beau almost anything on Valentine’s but roses, or any other flower. She suspects that either he does not know how to express his feelings with flowers or he believes flowers don’t last that long to be able to symbolize his feelings.
He gives her durable and lasting items throughout the year, until the next Feb. 14. If it is a trend among adults today, it appears quite sound enough. It means practicality, and is economically sensible, too.
That opens a wide field of commercial possibilities. Imagine one who is totally smitten with his lady love gifting her with a deed of sale and key to a condo unit they would move into after the wedding and honeymoon! Can any girl/woman ever have the heart to refuse such a Valentine gift?
Our point is that it may not be long now when more practical offerings would replace the red rose or red colored designed cards for one’s love on Valentine’s Day. During hard times like what we may be having now, a gift of a crate of sweet mangoes, or a bunch of well-ripened bananas, or a household appliance, might be more welcomed, albeit less romantic, than red roses.
