Valentine’s Day (情人节) was the time

Valentine’s Day (情人节) was the time my father chose to show his love for the special people in his life. Over the years I fondly thought of him as my “Valentine Man”.At the age of six, on Valentine’s Day morning, I got a card signed “Love, Dad” for the first time and a gift of a ring with a small piece of glass. 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”. Year by year, the cards seemed less important, and I thought the valentine would always be there. I had placed my hopes and dreams in receiving cards and gifts from “important others”, and “Love, Dad” just didn’t seem quite enough.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.On Valentine’s Day eight years ago I received a card addressed to me in my mother’s handwriting. On the inside, my mother had printed “Happy Valentine’s Day” and my father had signed “Love, Dad”. It was the kind of card that put tears in my eyes because I knew this would be the last I would receive from him. His final card remains on my desk today. It’s a reminder of how special fathers can be and how important it has been to me over the years to know that I had a father who continued a tradition of love with simple acts of understanding and had the ability to express happiness to the people in his life.