Valentines with friends: it’s the intention that matters

#TeenEssay

I recently went on a spontaneous trip to Target with a friend of mine. We really didn’t need anything, but wandering the aisles, exploring candle smells or the newest addition of pillows and throws for the home furnishing section, has become a sort of regular bonding experience.

I know this sounds very silly to some but talking about nothing and pointing out bits and bobs to friends is one of the easiest ways to get to know someone.

• What do they point out?
• What makes them smile, laugh, or reach for their wallet?
• What makes them make a disgusted face?

I learned, when passing by an expansive new section of Valentine goodies, that my friend also loves tacky chocolate hearts and stuffed animals with the words HUG ME stitched onto their stomachs!

We spent a good five minutes passing around dogs holding roses and unicorns with heart patterns. I even came up with the idea that we should collect a group of friends, who were just as infatuated with the materialistic aspects of Valentine’s Day as we were and make a secret-Santa sort of swap of stuffed animals and candy.

Maybe without friendship or real, deep connection, the tacky stuff would simply be tacky. It could even be something to throw away before the short month of February is over and the chocolate expires. But to my friend and I, it was the act of attaching a good, joyful memory to it all that made it, well, not so tacky.

We can do this to so many things in our lives.

Not even the tacky, but the mundane, the easily forgotten things. A rock on the beach, a cheap candle that won’t last long but smells so pungent of chai you know they will love it, or a hilarious and random card you give to friend when no holiday or birthday is in sight.

I think there is real magic in finding joy and real connection in the smallest and silliest of things. And as many have said before, it is the intention that matters.

Elisabeth Dellit is a 10th Grader at Jesuit High School. She enjoys reading, writing creative stories, baking/cooking and participating in her school’s drama program.