The traditional holidays in our house when I was a child were spent timing elaborate（精心制作的） meals around football games. My father tried to make pleasant chitchat and eat as much as he could during halftime. At Christmas he found time to have a cup or two of holiday cheer and do his holly-shaped bow tie1. But he didn't truly shine until Valentine's Day.
I don't know whether it was because work at the office slowed during February or because the football season was over. But Valentine's Day was the time my father chose to show his love for the special people in his life. Over the years I fondly2 thought of him as my "Valentine Man".
My first recollection of the magic he could bring to Valentine's Day came when I was six. For several days I had been cutting out valentines for my classmates. Each of us was to decorate a "mailbox" and put it on our desk for others to give us cards. That box and its contents ushered in a succession of bittersweet memories of my entrance into a world of popularity contests marked by the number of cards received, the teasing
That morning at the breakfast table I found a card and a gift- wrapped package at my chair. The card was signed "Love, Dad", and the gift was a ring with a small piece of red glass to represent my birthstone, a ruby. There is little difference between red glass and rubies to a child of six, and I remember wearing that ring with a pride that all the cards in the world could not surpass.
As I grew older, the gifts gave way to heart shaped boxes filled with my favorite chocolates and always included a special card signed "Love, Dad".In those years my "thank-yous" became more of a perfunctory（敷衍的） response.The cards seemed less
If my father knew then that he had been replaced, he never let it show. If he sensed any disappointment over valentines that didn't arrive for me, he just tried that much harder to create a positive atmosphere, giving me an extra hug and doing what he could to make my day a little brighter.
My mailbox eventually had a rural address, and the job of hand delivering candy and cards was relegated to the U.S.Postal Service. Never in ten years was my father's package late-- nor was it on the Valentine's Day eight years ago when I reached into the mailbox to find a card addressed to me in my mother's handwriting.
It was the kind of card that comes in an inexpensive assortment box sold by a child going door-to-door to try to earn money for a school project. It was the kind of card that you used to get from a grandmother or an aging aunt or, in this case, a dying father. It was the kind of card that put a lump in your throat and tears in your eyes because you knew the person no longer was able to go out and buy a real valentine. It was a card that signaled this would be the last you receive from him.
The card had a photograph of tulips on the outside, and on the inside my mother had printed "Happy Valentine's Day". Beneath it, scrawled in barely legible（清晰的） handwriting, was "Love, Dad".
His final card remains on my bulletin board today. It's a reminder of how special fathers can be and how
Those things never die, nor does the memory of a man who never stopped being my valentine.
相关单词：timing
timing解释：n.时间安排，时间选择
timing例句：
The timing of the meeting is not convenient.会议的时间安排不合适。
The timing of our statement is very opportune.我们发表声明选择的时机很恰当。
相关单词：ushered
ushered解释：v.引，领，陪同( usher的过去式和过去分词 )
ushered例句：
The secretary ushered me into his office. 秘书把我领进他的办公室。
A round of parties ushered in the New Year. 一系列的晚会迎来了新年。 来自《简明英汉词典》
相关单词：ruby
ruby解释：n.红宝石，红宝石色
ruby例句：
She is wearing a small ruby earring.她戴着一枚红宝石小耳环。
On the handle of his sword sat the biggest ruby in the world.他的剑柄上镶有一颗世上最大的红宝石。
相关单词：rubies
rubies解释：红宝石( ruby的名词复数 )； 红宝石色，深红色
rubies例句：
a necklace of rubies intertwined with pearls 缠着珍珠的红宝石项链
The crown was set with precious jewels—diamonds, rubies and emeralds. 王冠上镶嵌着稀世珍宝—有钻石、红宝石、绿宝石。
相关单词：relegated
relegated解释：v.使降级( relegate的过去式和过去分词 )；使降职；转移；把…归类
relegated例句：
She was then relegated to the role of assistant. 随后她被降级做助手了。
I think that should be relegated to the garbage can of history. 我认为应该把它扔进历史的垃圾箱。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
相关单词：postal
postal解释：adj.邮政的，邮局的
postal例句：
A postal network now covers the whole country.邮路遍及全国。
Remember to use postal code.勿忘使用邮政编码。
相关单词：assortment
assortment解释：n.分类，各色俱备之物，聚集
assortment例句：
This shop has a good assortment of goods to choose from.该店各色货物俱全，任君选择。
She was wearing an odd assortment of clothes.她穿着奇装异服。
相关单词：scrawled
scrawled解释：乱涂，潦草地写( scrawl的过去式和过去分词 )
scrawled例句：
I tried to read his directions, scrawled on a piece of paper. 我尽量弄明白他草草写在一片纸上的指示。
Tom scrawled on his slate, "Please take it -- I got more." 汤姆在他的写字板上写了几个字：“请你收下吧，我多得是哩。”
相关单词：remains
remains解释：n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹
remains例句：
He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。
相关单词：reminder
reminder解释：n.提醒物，纪念品；暗示，提示
reminder例句：
I have had another reminder from the library.我又收到图书馆的催还单。
It always took a final reminder to get her to pay her share of the rent.总是得发给她一份最后催缴通知，她才付应该交的房租。
相关单词：generosity
generosity解释：n.大度，慷慨，慷慨的行为
generosity例句：
We should match their generosity with our own.我们应该像他们一样慷慨大方。
We adore them for their generosity.我们钦佩他们的慷慨。
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