Students share Valentine love tales

By Claire Patterson / VN STAFF WRITER

Flowers, heart-shaped candy and love notes are all around us this week.

When you find your perfect someone, you cannot wait for the day when you can spend Valentine’s Day with them.

The day has finally come where you are not alone in bed watching rom coms as you eat a tub of ice cream, but you are, maybe, at a romantic, candle-lit dinner with your significant other.

Some may love and some may hate Valentine’s Day, but perhaps there’s hate because they are alone … again.

Valentine’s Day is a day where we can express our love for the people who mean the most to us, often a boyfriend or girlfriend.

We can shower them with sappy “I love you” texts, a heart-shaped box filled with chocolates and, of course, a dozen red roses.

Detroit Mercy sophomore Sophie Mapes met her longtime boyfriend in her high school gym class.

They will be celebrating their four-year anniversary this April.

“Our first Valentine’s Day together was everything we were both hoping for,” said Mapes. “We were super busy with sports, so we made time to get together and have dinner and exchange gifts. I make him his favorite dessert, strawberry shortcake, every Valentine’s Day, too.”

The holiday also comes with special surprises and big romantic gestures like you see in the movies.

Every girl loves a special gesture from her significant other.

Freshman Chloe Nicoltti’s boyfriend made a special surprise for her.

“He told me he wasn’t going to be able to see me because of wrestling, so I had my friends over but they were in on it,” she said. “He surprised me with roses and a photo album after wrestling. For sure one of the cutest things he’s ever done!”

Valentine’s Day also comes with a lot of traditions. Many have their own traditions like a nice dinner, roses or staying in together with takeout and a romantic movie.

Student Marissa Moreno and longtime boyfriend Carl have a more simple tradition.

“It’s sweet,” she said. “Carl handmakes chocolate-covered strawberries for me and gives me roses.”

It’s things like this that make the love go around.

For many little girls, their first true love is their father.

They are often the most important men in our lives, until a boyfriend finally comes along, which is the day many fathers dread most.

Junior Kortney Hepting’s number-one Valentine is and always will be her dad, she said.

“Before I had a boyfriend my Valentine’s tradition would be going out to diner with my dad and he would get me gifts and such,” said Hepting.

Although Hepting has a boyfriend (Dalton) now, she and her dad’s Valentine’s Day tradition remains, just with another person added to the mix.

“Even on Dalton and I’s first Valentine’s together, my dad came to dinner with us and we went to Polish Village Café,” said Hepting. “I thought it was a really great time and Dalton had fun too, even though my dad came.”