In recent months, I have joined a group of men for lunch each Tuesday. When I was preparing the story for Dave Cisar, I contacted Legendary Coach Bob Montgomery and ask if I could meet with him to talk about Dave. Bob text me that he along with his friend, Colin Simmons came to New Martinsville to have lunch at the Open Door Ministry. The Christen based group prepares meals in the former Methodist Church on Main Street each week. I agreed to meet him there.

Since that first meeting, I have on most Tuesday’s, joined Bob, Colin, Bob Steele, Ed Parsons and Tom Martin for lunch. It is a time to talk sports, everything from the Mountaineer dismal basketball team to the local high school girls play off opportunities.

Bob has been coaching, umpiring and refereeing for over fifty years. During that time he has called infractions, fowls, penalties in over 5000 games. A long time guiding force in the fairness of high schools sports in the Ohio Valley.

But, my story this week is not about sports or long time careers. It is about a Valentine Card Bob presented to each of us in the group at last week’s lunch. You see, Bob’s wife is a second grade teacher and purchased the cards to give to each of her students.

Inside each card, a strip with a chocolate candy picture on it. As I opened my card Bob said, “Now when you get that card home…scratch it, it will smell like chocolate.” Now to be honest, I scratched my card right away, sure enough the scent of chocolate was in the air…milk chocolate.

Bob and his wife thoughtfulness got me to thinking about Valentine’s Day many years ago. I remembered the day our teacher passed out small white bags. She then proceeded to explain about Valentine’s Day and the tradition of giving a card to show our love, in this case of second graders friendship. Of course when she said LOVE, we all broke out giggling. We didn’t know why we were giggling, but someday figured we would.

With crayons, paper scissors, red construction paper and glue, we each set about creating our own special Valentine bag. We enjoyed the opportunity to create this unique paper bag that would be our first mailbox in to the world of love. We weren’t sure of what love was, but we figured it was something good by seeing people kissing on television. They seemed to like when they did it. Looking back I don’t remember seeing Ozzie Nelson giving Harriett a big old kiss on the lips as he bent her slightly backwards. Nor do I remember Ward Cleaver, giving June a French kiss, as Wally and the Beaver watched. Maybe I missed those episodes.

I do remember watching at the theater as Humphrey Bogart looked longingly into the eyes of Lauren Bacall. Now, that was an adult kiss.

Anyway, back to my Valentine bag story. When we completed the assignment to create a Valentine bag, we each were ask to go up front and tell about our creation. After telling the class, we hung them up along the bottom of the front chalk board. For you younger people that was a black piece of slate that teachers wrote on. And if you were good you had the pleasure of wiping it down for the teacher. And if you were caught talking you had to wash the board. I never could figure out the difference between a good kid cleaning the black board and a bad kid cleaning the black board.

Over the next week, kids would slip cards into each bag along the chalk board. Most kids could not help but to sneak a peak into the bag to see how many cards they had gotten. In the second grade most every kid had the same number of cards from each member of the class. The teacher sent home a list of names and at the kitchen table your mom made you write the name on the outside and sign the inside. A tiring task of writing.

After a week came the big day. First with a pint of cold milk and two heart shaped cookies for a snack, we filled our need for sugar to feed the excitement building up inside each of us. Then one by one the teacher sent us up to retrieve our bag filled with cards. Once we all had our bags, she told us to go ahead and open them. For the next few minutes giggling and talking filled the room. Kids would take out a card and show it to the kid sitting next to them. That kid had the very same card. But every now and then one of the kids, both boy and girl had received a special card. Not the kind that came in a bag of fifty. It was a card purchased separately and special.

One year I received one of those special cards. Taped to the outside of the envelope, was a #2 pencil with hearts pictured on the pencil. WOW! Love attached to a #2 pencil. Then as you read the name you look up to see if the girl who had sent it to you was looking at you, sure enough she was. Suddenly you realized that you had given her one of the fifty cards in a package. Guilt sets in and you realize the pain of puppy love. And I didn’t even know I had it.

As you grow older the cards become more personalized and somewhere along the line you no longer hang paper bags on the black board. But still you sometimes found a card tucked into your locker door. And every now and then, a girl would come up and hand you a card, not from her, she was only the messenger. So began the world of love in the sixties.

You remember I told you about seeing Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall kissing. Do you remember your first kiss? I do. I think it was in the six grade. I was standing outside the school next to the fifty-five gallon garbage barrels talking with some friends. A girl whose name will remain forgotten, came up and said to the guys something like, “I decided I am going to kiss a boy today.” Without warning she kissed me. Well for the first time I had been kissed and never expected it. No time to get nervous or scared. It just happened. My kiss must not have given the girl what she was looking for, so she kissed two more guys. Somehow I don’t think any of us felt what Humphrey Bogart felt when he kissed Lauren. Anyway, I had gotten my first kiss out of the way and secretly hoped the next time it had a little more zing, or at least I got another #2 pencil for my efforts.

Bob and his wife’s Valentine card brought back the memories of long ago. It also reminded me to pick up a box of chocolates on the way home and to give Mary a kiss when I got there. Her kisses still give me that zing, without a #2 pencil Through the Lens.