Ten years ago, my husband and I had our first St. Valentine’s Day together. We’d only been dating less than a month, so we were in that oh so awkward stage of dating- far too soon for heavy romantic gestures and far enough along to think, hmm, this is going pretty nice.
We decided to keep it simple: no gifts, but dinner out at a nice restaurant and I was to pick the place. I love Japanese, so I, of course, chose the sushi place near my home. I ordered sushi, he ordered teriyaki chicken. When he mentioned he’d never had sushi before, I shared a tasty piece of the salmon with him. He chewed thoughtfully, swallowed and, after a pause and a funny look, said it was okay, but kind of bland.
Then I find out he doesn’t like fish. At all. Ever. And didn’t know that piece of sushi would be raw.
But he tried it for me. 
That’s a brave man.
And that no gifts plan? Well, there’s this cute bear that sits in my office . . .
This year, our celebration will be quiet. Due to his work schedule, we’ll go out to dinner on Tuesday and over to Barnes and Noble. Hmm, I get to pick this year, maybe it’s time to go go Japanese again.
babettejames.com 