Joni James Aldrich

Although Valentine's Day is meant to celebrate love, it can bring bittersweet memories and pain.

For kids, Valentine's Day is a time to exchange funny cards and eat boxes of chocolate. For adults, it's often much more than just a time to send flowers and buy heart jewelry, chocolates and cards—it's a time to rededicate your love to one special person. But when you're a widow or widower, or have lost your love due to an unfortunate life circumstance, Cupid's arrow can pierce your heart in a very different way. What was once a holiday of "warm fuzzies" can turn into a sorrowful day to overcome.

It's true that Valentine's Day holds significance for most couples, but it was particularly special for my husband Gordon and me. After losing my father in February, the whole season had become fraught with painful memories. Then a young man with a lot of heart came into my life, and it just so happened that Valentine's Day was right after our first date. When I got home from work, Gordon had left a bouquet of pink carnations on my front porch. So, it became a yearly ritual for us to use Valentine's Day as the anniversary of our first date together.