Valentine’s Day — a smack in the face to every hopelessly romantic, desperately single girl out there.
When you are alone, the holiday practically screams out, for 24 hours straight, “You are alone! You are single! Yet again, you are not dating anyone! Aloooooone!”
That’s how I’ve experienced V-Day over and over again. The bad way. By myself. Walking down the street seeing guys buying roses, couples holding hands — excitement on the faces of those lucky enough to be going home to that special someone.
Any other day, it’s no big deal. So you’re single. What’s the problem?
But V-Day can make a girl miserable. And, sadly, only girls. For some reason, single men seem to have built up some kind of testosterone-generated defense against it. We wither under an emotional bombardment that reminds us, “Love is all around — just not in your life.”
Year after year, I spent Valentine’s Day alone. Sure, I was dating, but I never seemed able to maintain a relationship that lasted all the way to Feb. 14. Growing up in New Jersey and North Carolina, it felt like almost every relationship I’d ever been in was a disaster.
And then dating in New York City — even more of a disaster. There are so many people here, with such strong personalities, it’s really hard to find someone who you really like who isn’t so, so wrapped up in his own life that he can step into yours.
I dated one guy and totally thought that things were going well. Then he disappeared. For six months. He finally called to let me know that he was leaving for LA to deal with a “family emergency.”
What, you couldn’t pick up the phone and communicate that to me earlier, like maybe three months ago?
That WTF moment drove me into the company of three other men that Valentine’s Day: my cocker spaniel, Brooklyn, and a couple of guys named Ben and Jerry — every girl’s favorite support team.
I sat on the couch in my sweats, petting Brooklyn’s belly with Chubby Hubby in my lap. “Who needs a man when I have you,” I’d tell him.
Then I made myself even more depressed by flipping on the TV.
What’s a typical network lineup for Feb. 14? Only the sappiest movies, guaranteed to crush a single girl’s spirit. You know which ones — they all have happy endings. “50 First Dates.” “Sweet Home Alabama.” “Dirty Dancing.” “The Notebook.”
Stupid Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams! Sure, they died in the end. But they were still in love! He read her that story every day just to get those 15 minutes back.
“Where’s my happy ending?” I wondered. “That’s just the most perfect love of all time. Am I ever going to have that?”
It seemed pretty far-fetched back then. I never thought that I would find the person I always wanted to be with. But I did. And this will be the first Valentine’s Day that Brooklyn will be off duty, home with his sister, and Ben and Jerry will remain in the grocery freezer section, rather than on my lap.
After all these years, it worked out for me better than I’ve ever imagined!
I’m confident that it will for you, too, my single sisters. Just keep the faith — and turn the TV off.
Have a question? E-mail AshleyDupre@nypost.com and follow her on Twitter at @ashleydupre.