Refuge51

These are such cute stories and I particularly like this one:
St. Valentine's Story
Let me introduce myself. My name is Valentine. I lived in Rome during the third century. That was long, long ago! At that time, Rome was ruled by an emperor named Claudius. I didn't like Emperor Claudius, and I wasn't the only one! A lot of people shared my feelings.

Claudius wanted to have a big army. He expected men to volunteer to join. Many men just did not want to fight in wars. They did not want to leave their wives and families. As you might have guessed, not many men signed up. This made Claudius furious. So what happened? He had a crazy idea. He thought that if men were not married, they would not mind joining the army. So Claudius decided not to allow any more marriages. Young people thought his new law was cruel. I thought it was preposterous! I certainly wasn't going to support that law!

Did I mention that I was a priest? One of my favourite activities was to marry couples. Even after Emperor Claudius passed his law, I kept on performing marriage ceremonies -- secretly, of course. It was really quite exciting. Imagine a small candlelit room with only the bride and groom and myself. We would whisper the words of the ceremony, listening all the while for the steps of soldiers.

One night, we did hear footsteps. It was scary! Thank goodness the couple I was marrying escaped in time. I was caught. (Not quite as light on my feet as I used to be, I guess.) I was thrown in jail and told that my punishment was death.

I tried to stay cheerful. And do you know what? Wonderful things happened. Many young people came to the jail to visit me. They threw flowers and notes up to my window. They wanted me to know that they, too, believed in love.

One of these young people was the daughter of the prison guard. Her father allowed her to visit me in the cell. Sometimes we would sit and talk for hours. She helped me to keep my spirits up. She agreed that I did the right thing by ignoring the Emperor and going ahead with the secret marriages. On the day I was to die, I left my friend a little note thanking her for her friendship and loyalty. I signed it, "Love from your Valentine."

I believe that note started the custom of exchanging love messages on Valentine's Day. It was written on the day I died, February 14, 269 A.D. Now, every year on this day, people remember. But most importantly, they think about love and friendship. And when they think of Emperor Claudius, they remember how he tried to stand in the way of love, and they laugh -- because they know that love can't be beaten!
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Saint Valentine's Day - February 14th

W.M.DEEEZ

So...sometimes love can be like...oh never mind!!!!

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Don't it always seem to go, that you don't know what you've got til it's gone

Refuge51

Okay instead of love can be like prison...let's just say for this thread...marriage can too

W.M.DEEEZ

Well, that's what I hear...although I've never been in either!

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Don't it always seem to go, that you don't know what you've got til it's gone

Refuge51

Well, what a prison is for some is freedom for others.

babylonDon

Except prison.

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McCain '08: 'He'll Get Those Kids Off Your Lawn'

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Refuge51

Very true! I've been to jail, but never prison. Close though

poetrychic

jail? you? interesting, please share

btw, that is a nice story

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"it was a creed written into the founding documents that declared the destiny of a nation, yes we can!"

Refuge51

I stole stuff in my younger days. Made the mistake of stealing some old coins once. He prosecuted fully..I was under 18 so got juvenile hall instead.

Malkavian

Soo... Claudius couldn't raise his army and Roman Empire disintegrated giving way to the savagery of the Dark Ages Thanks dude
Juno was cool though...

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Woof!