It’s that terrible holiday – the one card companies like to promote just to make money, the one that isolates people, the one that says you can only love someone one day a year. Everyone should forget about buying candy and cards with sweet messages and wear all black Feb. 14, right?

Wrong. Valentine’s Day is not a terrible holiday, and it’s not just a holiday for boyfriends and girlfriends.

Valentine’s Day is a day to celebrate love – love for a significant other, love for family members, love for friends.

People against Valentine’s Day often say it’s a bad holiday because couples are supposed to show their love and how much they care every day, which is true. There shouldn’t be just one day a year to tell someone you love that person, but that’s not the purpose of Valentine’s Day.

People celebrate Mother’s Day and Father’s Day, even Grandparent’s Day, yet aren’t we supposed to honor and love our parents and grandparents every day, too? And we should give thanks for the things we have every day, too, yet we still have a specific day set aside for that.

Many couples celebrate anniversaries, whether it be monthly anniversaries or yearly ones. How is Valentine’s Day much different?

We have to admit, life gets busy, but it’s important to take time out of our schedules for the people who are important to us. Family, friends and significant others are important. A lot of the time I think I don’t tell my family and friends how important they are to me enough, and I’ve had people tell me the same thing, too. I may know they care, and they may know I care, but if no one says anything, you cannot assume anything.

We can’t let life pass us by without creating memorable moments with friends and loved ones. Valentine’s Day is one way to make sure people realize the relationships they have and not get caught up in life and therefore take them for granted.

Another hassle some people find with Valentine’s Day is dealing with finding the perfect gift. In some ways, guys have it easier than girls to buy presents. Flowers, candy, jewelry and teddy bears are normally winners with girls. They’re also maybe not as creative or unique, but normally girls won’t complain when they receive them. What to buy a guy, though, seems a little harder. In any case, Valentine’s Day shouldn’t be about finding the perfect gift.

Not liking Valentine’s Day because you don’t have a significant other also is not a good reason. I’ve had someone to celebrate Valentine’s Day with just one year of my almost 21 years of life, and I’m not against the holiday.

Yeah, I have to admit back in high school, sometimes it was kind of hard to watch all the girls carrying around flowers and little presents and being with their boyfriends. It might still be hard now because I’m a romantic who wishes I had someone to sweep me off my feet. But I refuse to hate the day.

I realize that’s not all there is to the day. If someone doesn’t have a significant other, I’m willing to bet they have friends and family, and on Valentine’s Day, they can celebrate their love for those people in their lives.

It’s the message that’s behind Valentine’s Day that I like, not that it’s a certain day or because I have someone special to share it with. The message that love is important is powerful.

By wearing black or protesting against Valentine’s Day, you’re protesting love, and why would you want to do that?