Whenever I think of Valentine, I think of my senior high school days and the first-ever Valentine’s day of my life.
I was a first-year student, innocent and carefree. I knew about love and I knew about sex but I had never heard of Valentine’s day. Where I came from, it wasn’t a thing. Nobody spoke about it and nobody celebrated it. It was a small village in the Volta region and every 14th of February was just another day to go to the farm or the market.
On my first day in school, I met a senior who was clearly in love with me but couldn’t say it. He rather acted it and tried to make things obvious for me each day. A day or two to Val’s day he told me, “Let’s have valentine together. Would you?”
I stood there and looked at his face as though he was speaking Latin to me. He repeated, “Would you have Valentine with me?” Looking at the expressions on his face I thought “Valentine” was another name for sex so I said, “No, I’m too young to do Valentine. My mom advised me against that.”
He smiled teasingly.
“Your mom said you shouldn’t ‘chop’ Valentine?”
“Yeah, she said I could be pregnant and drop out of school if I allow myself to be used for Valentine.”
He got what I meant and started laughing. I was confused so I asked him, “Is Valentine not sex?” He said, “Not at all.” He took his time and explained things to me. I was embarrassed of my lack of knowledge. But he didn’t give up on me.
On Val’s day, he brought me a bag. I opened it when I got to my dormitory. There was a pair of red sox, a card that plays music when you open it and a can of Royal Dansk Danish butter cookies.
The message in the card read, “I loved you the very first day I saw you and it’s good to have you as my Valentine. I love you forever and I hope you do too.”
I read the message over and over again and it brought smiles to my face each time that I read it. My mom advised me not to have a boyfriend but from that day on, I had a boyfriend.
We thought we could do it forever. But today, the only thing that remains of that love is the can of the biscuit he sent me. It’s what I keep my jewelries in. I look at it and I tell myself, “You and I are rather forever.”
Elikplim, Ghana
#MyHappyValentine
#SilentBeads
