Valentine Blues

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Valentine Blues
In solidarity with all single (lonely) people

by Rissa Singson-Kawpeng

For many years, Valentine’s Day was a holiday I didn’t look forward to. While the whole world was swathed in red — from hearts to cupids to flowers — mine was drenched with the blues. Even when I was surrounded by loving family members and close friends who were single like me, somehow there was that emptiness over not having a special someone on the day of hearts. There were some years when the pain was so real, it drove me to tears.

Today, I type this article with a diamond ring and a glittering wedding band on my left hand. Valentine’s Day has also taken a new meaning. It’s a day I will forever celebrate because it was then when I first met my husband.

Still, I haven’t forgotten how painful it could sometimes be when you’re single. When you’ve waited as long as I did, you don’t easily forget…

The lonely nights after you’re done watching the rented videos and you still lie awake. (These were the times when I prayed most fervently, “Lord, please naman, have mercy on me! Send me the man that I will spend the rest of my life with. And can you please make it happen before Your Second Coming?”)

The comments you get from well-meaning relatives who keep asking when you’re getting married. (I’ve learned to memorize comebacks like, “I was planning to do it today but it’s getting late. Maybe tomorrow.”)

The disappointment of coming home from another blind date that’s a dead-end. (The knight in shining armor I hoped to meet turned out to be a loser in tin foil.)

The silent panic you feel when your birthday rolls by. (Blip-blip. Blip-blip. I search for my cell phone thinking it’s the alarm until I realize it’s my body clock reminding me of my age.)

The hopelessness that grips you when you attend your niece’s wedding. (Yes, you still remember how she looked in her diapers.)

The bitterness that rises when you hear that someone is marching down the aisle for her second marriage. (Hey, give chance to others! You’ve already had your turn!)

I could go on and on.

That’s why I sympathize with single people who are impatient in finding their one true love.

To all the single, lonely people out there, take heart.

There’s hope.

Take it from someone who prayed for two decades and concluded it wouldn’t happen.

Then it did, and the Lord more than made up for all those lonely Valentine’s Days.

Because God is faithful. Even when we aren’t.


You changed my mourning into dancing; you took off my sackcloth and clothed me with gladness. (Psalm 30:11)


*This article was taken from Kerygma magazine February 2009 issue. If you want to subscribe to K magazine click here or call us at 725-9999.

Photo from pixabay.com

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