I used to hate Valentine’s Day. I even wrote a diatribe called Valentine’s Day Is Evil, where I list off all the things about Valentine’s Day that make it suck and there are a lot of things that make it suck.

I’m one of those annoying people who flip-flopped after they fell into a committed relationship. I don’t hate Valentine’s Day anymore since I fell in love.

For the last two years, I haven’t hated Valentine’s Day because it is my dog’s birthday (approximately). She’ll be three years old this year.

Our meeting was as close to love at first sight as it gets. I couldn’t walk away from her little cage. I tried to walk away, but only made it about five feet before I turned back. We locked eyes and I just knew we were destined for one another. I took this picture of my two-month old valentine on the first day we met:

She doesn’t have many skills. She can’t even open a door herself. She’s not the best conversationalist. She’s not exceptionally bright or creative. She doesn’t have a job and loafs around the house all day. She hogs the bed and snores. She destroys things sometimes. She takes up a lot of my time and is pretty high maintenance. She costs me a lot of money and doesn’t even pay rent, but I don’t mind. We’ve had some rough patches, but we always work through it, especially now that she’s more adult than she used to be.

Her bad qualities are overshadowed by the good ones. Somehow, after spending almost every day together for nearly three years, we’re not tired of each other yet. She’s always happy to see me, whether I’m gone 5 minutes or 5 hours. She cheers me up when I’m down. When I had the flu recently, she stayed by my side and tried to make me feel better. She is my biggest fan and loves me absolutely unconditionally. She wants me to be happy. I find it difficult to be depressed or grumpy around her. She constantly surprises me and makes me laugh.

So, I don’t hate Valentine’s Day anymore. Now, I celebrate another year with my best friend who is always there when I need her. She certainly makes life more interesting.

Plus, Valentine’s Day has chocolate and how can you hate chocolate?

Happy Valentine’s Day, y’all.