Dispatch #61: Kissing in the Rain

by Lupe Fernandez

Romantic versus realistic.

Have you ever kissed in the rain? I mean during a cold, drenching downpour. Water hammers on metal gutters, splashes in murky puddles, beats on window pane, liquid streaming off your hair, clotting your nose, stinging your eyes, dripping down your back, punching your membrane-thin umbrella.

I watched Four Weddings and a Funeral the other night. Great movie, but watching Andie MacDowell and Hugh Grant kissing in an English downpour got me thinking about what’s it like to kiss in the rain. No, this isn’t a romantic disclaimer.

I present another version:

I walk with Sheila around the Lodi High school campus and talk what we will play in our set for the jazz festival. My hand brushes hers and I cross the great chasm of insecurity – what if she refuses - and slip my fingers around hers. Sheila holds my clammy hand.

Drops go tap, tap, tap on her wind breaker. We hurry to get out of the drizzle. The sleeve cuff of her wind breaker rubs against my palm. Her jacket fabric flexes and crinkles as her body moves; we hurry to shelter of the school auditorium.

My sneakers squish on a watery sidewalk. Humidity has frizzed her red-hair tucked under her hood. I kiss her quick. She smiles, a glimpse of dull braces, and quickly covers her mouth, embarrassed.

Back in the auditorium, our fellow jazz players see us, my sweater soaked, her face flushed and our nervous smiles, followed by a trail of damp footsteps.

Love is like that: a gentle tap on a window pane, an invitation to fill parched lips of dry earth or a root ripping torrent wiping away the past into a chaotic present.

A little of both, I should hope.

Is it raining now?

Is it raining all over the world?

St. Valentine's Day

St. Valentine's Day

by Hilde Garcia

Valentines Day has had a long-standing tradition that dates back to the ancient Roman festival of Lupercalia, a fertility celebration celebrated annually on February 15. Pope Gelasius I named this pagan festival as a feast day around 496 a. C. for Christians, declaring February 14 to be St. Valentine's Day.

The Catholic Church recognizes at least three different saints named Valentine, all of whom were martyred. One legend says that when Emperor Claudius II decided that single men were better for the army than those with wives and families, he outlawed marriage for young men. The priest was believed to have defied Claudius and continued to perform marriages in secret. When Valentine was caught, he was sentenced to death.

Another story says that the imprisoned Valentine actually sent the first “valentine” greeting himself to the daughter of the jailer because he had fallen in love with her. Before he died, he wrote her a letter and signed it “From your Valentine,” an expression that we still use today.

Every legend emphasizes that he was sympathetic and heroic. By the Middle Ages, St. Valentine would become one of the most popular saints in most of Europe.

Valentine greetings were popular as far back as the Middle Ages. However, written Valentine’s didn’t begin to appear until after 1400. The poem written in 1415 by Charles, Duke of Orleans, to his wife while he was imprisoned following his capture at the Battle of Agincourt. He wrote it from the Tower of London and it is believed to be the oldest recorded valentine.

Je suis desja d’amour tanné

Ma tres doulce Valentinée…

I am already sick of love

My very gentle Valentine…

However, the his wife, the duchess, died before the poem could reach her. During the 25 years he was in prison, he wrote his wife 60 poems of love. They are considered to be the first examples of “valentines.”

Today, because of printing advances, most people don’t hand write cards, they simply buy them. I still hand write cards!  Messages are long as well as short, but all share a common bond that sentiments and emotions for someone else should be shared.

My husband wrote me a poem when we first started dating and gave it to me on Valentine's Day. I can't help thinking how many hundreds of years and millions of poems have been shared, and how it doesn't end. Our need to express love is as alive as it was for Valentine himself when he expressed his affection for his beloved while awaiting his execution.

So in the spirit of love, and may it live on forever, here’s a list of some popular picture books, middle grade stories, and young adult novels that explore the spirit of Valentine’s Day and the theme of love.

Fee free to add to the list!

LOVE ON!

PICTURE BOOKS:

Somebody Loves You, Mr. Hatch

Love Splat

The Very Fairy Princess Follows Her Heart

Here Comes Valentine Cat

Guess How Much I Love You

Snowy Valentine

You're Lovable to Me

Too Many Valentines

MIDDLE GRADE:

Nate the Great and the Mushy Valentine

Roses are Pink, Your Feet Really Stink

Junie B.Jones and the Mushy Gushy Valentime (Junie B. Jones #14)

Four Stupid Cupids (HamletChronicles)

YOUNG ADULT:

Heart Thief: A Valentine's Day Novelette

Vegan Virgin Valentine

Valentine's Day Sucks (A Young Adult Romance Novella)

Dispatch #33: What Is Love?

by Lupe Fernandez

What is love? Where does it come from and who's responsible?

Let's ask our panel of experts:

"Baaa...fsshhh...whoa..."
- Roselio, two months  

"Love is naps. Cookies. Playing with Mr. Teddy. Splashing in mud. Pulling out pumpkin brains at Halloween."
- Roselio, age 6

"I can't wait for Mrs. Masked Marvel to come on at two. I know how to tell time. I have Mrs. Masked Marvel figure and secret closet with lots of dresses.
- Nadia, age 7

 "Love? Bleech! Ya gotta me kiddin' me! Girls? Sheesh! They play stupid games and always laughing and doing stupid stuff like playing with dolls." 
- Jose, age 8

 "Girls? Gulp. Uhhhhhh...(swoon and faint)" 
- Calaveras Cal, estimated age 10

"You Know Who's the most beautiful girl in my class. When she looks at me, I hid behind a tree."
- Angel, age 11 

"This boy in my class leaves me love notes and candy Valentine hearts. He's always staring at me. What's wrong with him?"
- Georgina, age 11

"Love. That's what a boy says to get in your pants. He's all over you with his hands behind the gym and says, 'I love you so bad.' They're only good for getting cigarettes and beer."
- Marlene, age 14

"I can't stop thinking about her, man! I mean it ain't fair. It's like I ate a bad bag of Cheesy Crunchies and I can't get a dookie. Her green eyes. Her Russian accent. Oh man, I'm getting a Perestroika in my Pants."
- Roger, age 16

"He was everything. The present. The future. I don't care what people said about him. I wasn't forced. We were together. It was like my body felt every note ever heard. Every taste ever tasted. Filling me up. I saw outside myself. Other people's rules don't matter."
- Anhelica, age 16

"He's the heat of summer. The wrap of a blanket in winter. The crisp crunch of leaves ready to fall. He's fresh cut grass in spring. Yellow sunflowers kissing the sun. Ice cold glass against my hot forehead. Sweet red fruit juice running down my arms. He's sunset and promise of a new day."
- Violet, age 15

"I don't give it much thought. I suppose I'll get married some time after college. I would be suffice if my future husband as in the Aero-Corp like me."
- Julia, age 17

"It hurts my heart. I dig deep inside me when I think of her. What could have been. What should have been. I feel her lips taste mine. Memories of her are slow motion anguish that I can't be with her. When she touched my chest, God filled me up. She was the first person to make me feel needed. She waited for me in class. Her eyes lit up. I will always love her for that. Always."
- Roselio, age 18

Well, there you have it folks.

The experts have spoken.

What do you think?