Flashback . . . to Anxiety

When I was in elementary school and gave all my classmates Valentines, I suffered from a paralyzing anxiety about what to call some of the boys to whom I was sending cards. I was convinced that addressing someone as, say, "Matt" instead of "Matthew" seemed forward and would lead ultimately to humiliation.

Also in elementary school, I had a sweatshirt that spelled out "You are the key to my heart" in a rebus. I hid this sweatshirt, which had been handed down to me by my cousins, because I found its message troublingly suggestive.

Today on Valentine's Day I had to step over a dead mouse on the sidewalk after work.

Also, the candy hearts that I chose from the office bag of holiday candy were poorly printed and in some cases illegible.

- Caitlin