(Feb. 14, 2012) Today is St. Valentine's Day, often simply Valentine's Day, a holiday observed on Feb. 14 honoring one or more early Christian martyrs named Valentinus. It is celebrated in countries around the world, mostly in the West, although it remains a working day in all of them.
The day first became associated with romantic love in the circle of Geoffrey Chaucer in the High Middle Ages, when the tradition of courtly love flourished. By the 15th century, it had evolved into an occasion in which lovers expressed their love for each other by presenting flowers, offering confectionery, and sending greeting cards (known as "valentines").
Modern Valentine's Day symbols include the heart-shaped outline, doves and the figure of the winged Cupid. Since the 19th century, handwritten valentines have given way to mass-produced greeting cards.
There is a certain pall over this year's Valentine's Day for lovers who count as their song "I Will Always Love You," the signature number of iconic singer Whitney Houston, or others of her romantic hits, since the 48-year-old world-renown star died Saturday afternoon before performing in a pre-Grammy Award show in Beverly Hills, Calif. The funeral for the Newark native is set for Saturday in her hometown.
During the 1990s, Houston was married to Bobby Brown at her estate in Mendham and they lived there for some years. Read about remembrances of them by local folks in Recorder Community Newspapers' Observer-Tribune.
Other interesting local stories can be found in Recorder Newspapers and their blogs online here. Anyone interested in joining the 60+ Recorder bloggers may contact me at (908) 832-7420 or panderson@recordernewspapers.com for more information about this simple, free, 21st century communication tool.
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