Did You Know?
What can you say about a month that begins with a burrowing rodent delivering a weather forecast, moves on to a sentimental holiday featuring hearts and flowers, then just surrenders and ends days short of any other month?
You could note that that month now hosts our great American spectacle, the Super Bowl as well. But, on balance, February has all the personality of a pair of beige socks.
That’s undoubtedly why Valentine’s Day has taken on such prominence. It’s certainly why I decided to look into the history of Valentine’s Day to see what I could find out about when it started and why it seems to mean so much to us.
Frankly, I was more than a little amazed. There are numerous, somewhat different stories about how Valentine’s Day came into being, but all of them have at their center a Roman clergyman named Valentine who most records place as living in the third century.
As the story goes, this Valentine opposed the Roman emperor, who had actually banned marriage, because he believed that married men made poor soldiers. Ironically, comics have had a field day for generations claiming that some married men have to be pretty good fighters!
But, what happened to poor Valentine is anything but funny. He was thrown into prison where he fell in love with the warden’s daughter. Legend has it that he was able to cure her of her blindness and when he learned that even despite this miraculous cure he was going to be put to death he sent her a final letter signed, “From your Valentine.”
By the way, once Valentine became St. Valentine he also was named the patron of some interesting “special interest groups.” These include beekeepers, which seems like an odd choice, engaged couples, which makes a lot of sense, and greeting card manufacturers, which sounds like a bit of political back-scratching to me!
But, when all’s said and done, I have no quarrel with businesses such as florists, and candy-makers and greeting card companies making a profit on our common wish to reach out to our friends and loved ones.
That said, I’m not convinced that real estate brokers shouldn’t do the same. So, I’m sending a special card to everyone in our exceptional San Fernando Valley & Westside markets..
It’s not in the shape of a heart. It’s in the shape of a dollar sign. It reads, “If in your heart you’re considering a major transaction in our complex, sophisticated marketplace – you can be my Valentine! Just give me a call today at (310)777-6291”.
It’s signed “Mark Goldsmith” as in “Goldsmith Properties” and “the leader in multi-million dollar residential real estate transactions for years.”
And when you become a Mark Goldsmith Valentine, I won’t even have to step outside and see my shadow to predict you’ll experience the most successful real estate you ever imagined, in February or any other month! I’ll have you saying “2 Good 2 B True!”
