Today dear friends, after celebrating Valentine's day with love ones, let's find out the origin, meaning and how Valentine's Day is celebrated in Cameroon and elsewhere in the world
√ According to legend, St. Valentine signed a letter "from your Valentine" to his jailer's daughter, whom he had befriended and healed from blindness. Another common legend state that he defied the emperor's orders and secretly married couples to spare the husbands from being conscripted to serve in war.
√ As a matter of fact it is believed that Valentine's day began as a feast day for christian Martyr executed by the Roman emperor according to history.com. Bearing cards, flowers, chocolate and poetry, lovers have always swooned on Valentine's Day as cherubs circled overhead.
° Valentine's Day is therefore an annual festival to celebrate romantic love, friendship and admiration. Every year on 14 February people celebrate this day by sending messages of love and affection to partners, family and friends.
° It should be noted here that Valentine's Day, is a day of love, but there are restrictions that say love has to be only towards a significant other. Love is universal, whether towards a significant other, family members, friends, or one's self, on this day that love be celebrated.
° From a biblical standpoint, the word "valentine" comes from the latin word "valens" which means "Worthy, strong or powerful" In the bible, the word "valentine" is used about God's love for us. He is the ultimate valentine who loved us and gave His son Jesus, to die for our sins.
√ However, there is no mention of Valentine, Saint Valentine, or Valentine's Day in the bible. Some christians view Valentine's Day as an opportunity to celebrate love and affection for their partners, friends and family, and see it as a positive and uplifting holiday. Valentine's Day is really a special time to celebrate love and appreciation for the people who mean the most to us. Whether it's a romantic partner, a close friend, or a family member, this serves as a reminder to express our gratitude and affection.
° In Cameroon, my country, gift-giving is the central part of the Valentine's Day. The day is usually celebrated by lovers who choose various means of showing their love for each otherand it goes from offering chocolate, romantic wine sharing, exchange of cards, flowers, romantic dinners, exchange of jewelries, and many more. Meanwhile in schools, students exchange Valentine's cards and other tangible gifts with classmates. In the west region of Cameroon, opinions about the importance of this day vary. Meanwhile in the
restive north west region of Cameroon where I reside, people used to celebrate it with lots of ambience and partying with love ones till dawn. But in the last eight years due to crisis in the restive north west and south west regions of Cameroon the Celebration of Valentine's Day has taken a different look.However despite the huddles posed by the recurring separatists activities in these two regions, Bamenda in the north west region, where I reside, now celebrate this day from home for security concerns.
People or lovers and Loved ones cook together or surprise their partners, set up romantic dining table, create cozy seating arrangements, and Add final touches to the ambience.
° Meanwhile in other places, an example of America, every Valentine's Daymillions of Americans gift their partners or loved ones with flowers, cards or candy as a token of their affections** on Feb. 14. But while some see it as a commercialized "Hallmark holiday" the occasion actually has ancient roots in Roman history and connections to Saint Valentine**".
° Generally nowadays, Valentine's Day is commonly celebrated by exchanging handmade or store-bought "Valentine's" ( greeting cards ) or other token of affection like chocolate and flowers. In many schools, it has become customary for young students to bring in Valentine's to swap with classmates. During this year's February 14th, 2025, my children from both primary and secondary schools respectively came home very excited and recounted how they exchanged gifts with their classmates in schools. And even their teachers showed them love by sharing gifts to them. As a matter of fact my youngest daughters from the experience of gifts exchange in her school, carefully made a handmade gift ( a letter ) and handed to me as a Valentine's Day gift. I was so proud of her! That was her own way of showing love and affection to me her father.
Meanwhile the eldest of my children wrote an amazing letter to me demonstrating his love and affection to me as a father and his hero. He used such appealing words of appreciation that any father will be proud to have him as a son.
I, on my own part provided an amazing dinner for the family, as a sign of love and care! Valentine's Day Celebration this year was so amazing, though we did it from home, as a follow-up from the one the children had started with back in school with their classmates and tutors.
✓Hope this made somebody's day amazing. And thanks for following and voting my content. I am so proud to have you dear friends. I am your humble friend Mnkong Emmanuel Saah.
Images: source; getty images and my private collections