How do you show the love?

So obviously it’s Valentine’s Day. You’d have to be hiding in a cave, with no access to media or facebook, to be able to avoid it. And if you were in said cave, you wouldn’t be reading my blog post.

Anyways, it’s Valentine’s Day and there is a lot to be said about the many many things wrong with the holiday. But what I want to use this hook to talk about is how we show the love to people in our lives OTHER than romantic partners. The irony of Valentine’s Day, for me, is that our romantic partners are probably the people we show the most love to, most often. Think about it. If you are in a romantic relationship, chances are you express affection towards that person constantly, whether through physical displays of affection, saying I love you, or sending cute texts.

But what about the other people in your life that you love and appreciate, even if you aren’t romantically involved with them? Those relationships deserve a national holiday, so you can remember not to take your friends for granted, or even your neighbor, or the person you see on the bus.

I have to admit I borrowed this question from a board meeting I was at this weekend at the Astraea Foundation.

I answered this question by sharing that this year, I’ve tried to institute a practice of sending gratitude cards to friends whenever I want to appreciate them and their role in my life. I found some nifty ones on etsy, gathered up some stamps and away I went.

From a.favorite on Etsy

So, Feministing readers, how do you show the love to the people in your life who aren’t your romantic partners?