Love is in the air!  Pink, red, and white colors fill stores.  But what really is Valentines Day?  Let’s take a further look!  While it originated as a feast day to honor one or two Christian martyrs, it has become a day to celebrate romance and love around the world.  We associate this day with custom cards, flowers, chocolates, and other gifts to signify our love to others. While these traditions began in the U.K., they are common symbols of the holiday in various regions, including the United States.  The day gets its name from a famous saint, but there are several stories regarding who he was.  The popular belief about Saint Valentine is that he was a priest from Rome in the third century AD.  Emperor Claudius II had banned marriage because he thought married men were bad soldiers. Valentine felt this was unfair, so he broke the rules and arranged marriages in secret.  When Claudius found out, Valentine was thrown in jail and sentenced to death.  There, he fell in love with the jailer’s daughter and when he was taken to be killed on February 14th he sent her a love letter signed “from your Valentine”.  So celebrate Valentines Day however you would like, but now you know where the day came from!