HARLAN'S CONTRIBUTION (page 7)

Loving Yourself First

In high school, the student council had a fund-raiser where we could buy a flower for someone special and have it delivered to him or her on Valentine's Day morning in their first-period class.

That year, I sent out three carnations to three unsuspecting girls. I figured there might be a chance to attract at least one of them. Besides, if any one of them had sent me a flower and I didn't send them one in return, it would be over before it began. A carnation went out to Melanie, Susie, and Jenny (Jenny was a long shot).

The whole week, I anticipated who might send me some carnations. My friend Brian sent one to his girlfriend, Stephanie sent one to Jason - she had a crush on him all semester. Lisa sent one to her good friend Tracy just for fun. The entire week a list of girls ran through my mind. I wondered who would be the one to try and win me over. I had two potentials on my mind, but I was more than ready to be completely surprised by any random girl.

Finally, the morning of February 14 arrived. After thirty minutes of math class, I spotted the student council delivery person outside the classroom in the hallway. She entered the room carrying a massive bouquet of flowers for distribution in Mr. Aaron's math class. Mr. Aaron reluctantly stopped class and organized the flowers. As he shuffled through the thick stack of cards, the room filled with anticipation.

At long last, Mr. Aaron finally had our undivided attention. He asked for a helper and started handing out the flowers. He announced the names on the card as he delivered the goods. "Neil, Brian, Jennifer, Scott, Chad, Anne, Amy…" The list went on for a good ten minutes.

Flowers began sprouting up on desks all around me.

Some guys were already on their second and third flowers. One guy even scored a good half-dozen. Even though it was public knowledge he had a girlfriend, the reality was that he had six times as many flowers as me.

Mr. Aaron read out the last couple of names, "Two more for Neil, and, oh good, one for Harlan," Yes! There was one for me! Total relief.

I had a pretty good idea of who had sent it to me. I looked down at the card and it confirmed exactly what I expected. It wasn't from Melanie, it wasn't from Susie, and it definitely wasn't from Jenny.

The card read:

Happy Valentine's Day
Love, Harlan

My friends asked me who had sent it. I told them it was someone special, and left it at that. They never knew. They didn't need to know.

 

Copyright © 2004 Harlan Cohen