Valentine’s Day in Foggytown

/ By / In / 12 Comments

Valentine’s Day in Foggytown

Early in our marriage my husband had an opportunity to work at the London branch of his company and we didn’t hesitate to pack up and go!  (See Laundry Day in London, Intro to Cookery, and Kinky Boots)

We rented a cosy flat with a little garden in the back and settled into London life.  While Danny was at the office I learned my way around town,  took courses a few days a week,  and kept happily busy.

We got used to the foggy weather,  learned to put milk in our tea,  and I soon noticed I was calling everyone  “Luv”.

Thankfully the currency had recently been decimalized so rather than 12 shillings,  it was now (to us Yankees at least) a much more sensible 100 pence to the British pound.

And that year we learned to celebrate holidays British-style.  We went to a lovely old London synagogue on Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur where we said  “God save the Queen”  at the end of each service,  and standing on the Chelsea Embankment we cast our sins into the River Thames.

In February as Valentine’s Day approached,   I saw the familiar holiday frenzy in the shops  – ribbons and lace in shop windows,  chocolates in heart-shaped boxes,  and cardboard Cupids with arrows and bows.

And so to buy Danny’s card and some sweets for our traditional Valentine’s Day chocolate exchange I headed out to a large Boots – the ubiquitous UK pharmacy chain – which happened to be near Danny’s office.   Sure enough there was a big Valentine display,  and I began searching the racks for the perfect card.

Then from the corner of my eye I noticed a familiar-looking guy thumbing through the cards on the other side of the rack.

“Dana?”  said a voice I knew.

“Hello Luv.”  I said to my husband.

– Dana Susan Lehrman