Growing up, Valentine’s Day went pretty much the same way every year: I went to school and did all the normal  Valentine’s Day stuff. I exchanged cards with my friends, watched for the hourly interruptions when candy-grams would be delivered and hoped for the big deliveries from the main office.

These were always bouquets of flowers or baskets of candy, guaranteeing breaks of at least 15 minutes per gift from class lectures. It took that long because we had to guess who the gift was from, and somebody always had to steal the card. The same students always received the gifts, and the gifts always were from their parents.

But it was middle school; drama had to come from somewhere.

Lunch always brought a predictable change from the ordinary. There isn’t anything like a good Valentine’s Day cafeteria lunch to spread the love. Nothing screams romance like cupids and hearts cut out of appropriately colored construction paper and scotch-taped on the salad bar sneeze guard. And there isn’t a soul on this earth who’s heart doesn’t skip a beat when served a compartment of rosy applesauce with the rare treat of red and pink Jell-o squares for dessert.

Then, at 3:05 p.m., I’d head home with my backpack crammed full of cheesy cards and cheap candy to a house where the only variance from a normal day was the small, heart-shaped chocolate cake my mother baked every year. The recipe came from an ancient index card, written in the elegant handwriting of some church lady years ago. It was called ‘Nobody Loves Me Cake.’ It was the cake we always had when someone wanted a chocolate cake for a birthday or a good report card.

After dinner my mom cut the cake into four pieces. My sister and I each drank a big glass of milk and ate our annual share. My parents had coffee.

That was Valentine’s Day. Just cake.

There was not any fanfare. Nobody talked about crushes or candy-grams. We enjoyed the company of each other, just like any other night. And that’s exactly how we preferred it.

Valentine’s Day is said to be a day to celebrate love, but romance really steals the show. For those who love year round, Valentine’s Day is nothing but a reason to have dessert.