Of all the special days on our calendar, surely Valentine’s Day is the strangest. Unlike occasions such as Memorial Day, the Fourth of July, Martin Luther King Day, or even Christmas and New Year’s Day, Valentine’s Day isn’t an official national holiday. Celebrations such as Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, or Easter are by their very names clear as to their purpose. We take Mom to lunch, we buy Dad a power tool or a book, and we celebrate the resurrection on Easter or at least have a bunny magically bring the kids baskets of candy. But Valentine’s Day? Really, what’s the point? Is it, as a couple of my friends claim, a holiday concocted by Hallmark cards, chocolate manufacturers, and florists? Is it a festival reeking of artifice and false sentiment? Isn’t February 14, at bottom, bogus in its demands that we shower a beloved with gifts, something we could …