Oh Valentine’s Day! Remember when it was all about who had the coolest cardboard foldable cards and chalky candy conversation hearts?   Proving once again my theory that holiday candy could never stack up against everyday candy.  Who would ever choose the heart shaped Tumms over M&Ms? Maybe you were a particularly badasss grade schooler and your mom splurged for the Skittles Valentines packs.  Not to brag, but one year I did give out mini Lifesaver Valentines.
     Like too often, I have lost my train of thought due to candy. My point being Valentine’s day went from a good excuse to blow off half the school day for a party, to the most dreaded day of the year.  Almost everyone hates it. If you’re in a relationship, it’s a ticking time bomb of expectation.  And if you’re single, it's basically a "do not jump," circling the drain, day filled with self reflection that only rivals the late night hours of your birthday.
     Instead of avoiding the Walgreens heart covered aisles like the plague or fantasying about chubby Cupid’s eventual clogged artery induced heart attack, I say we Take Valentine's Day Back.  Remember, it’s one day about love and, as Love Actually reminds us every holiday season during the “God Only Knows” airport scene, love is all around us.   Even if that love isn’t romantic love.   The evidence of this can be found where all my life reaffirming ideas reside in.. Television.

Ten Totally LOVING but 100%  Non-Romantic Relationships for Valentine’s Day

1. Dig and Felicity/ Dig and Oliver (Arrow)
Sure hearts stop every time Olicity share a longing glance and, if they kiss, well twitter actually breaks.  But after Oliver’s presumed death (not actual death Thank God), it was Dig’s emotional “I just couldn't protect him” that felt like Ras' sword into our hearts.   From Felicity’s worry about Dig’s exploration of the Russian prison system to Dig literally and figuratively always having Felicity’s back, you just imagine these two swapping BFF bracelets. 

2. Deacon and Scarlett (Nashville)
When Scarlett heard that Deacon needed a partial liver transplant, she didn’t hesitate to volunteer. Unfortunately, she wasn’t a match but she did something equally painful for her. She called her mother.  These two might be unlucky in love, but thanks to each other, they could never doubt that they have someone to love on Valentine’s Day.

3. Ron and Leslie (Parks and Recreation)
When we get our first glimpse of the year 2017 it looks like a scary place.  Not because Grizzle (aka Google) is data mining our lives, but Ron and Leslie are no longer friends.  That’s a bleak future.  Thank goodness our beloved duo worked it out because, in a way, Ron and Leslie give our very divided country hope.  They prove that even the most different of people can find common ground if they try.  So basically, our nation’s problems might be solved if we can get everyone together over waffles. Who can fight over waffles?

4. The Villanueva Women (Jane the Virgin)
No wonder why Jane thinks the baby is a girl, the Villanueva women are basically amazing.  Sure they are all very different and sometimes fight, but they are always there for each other.  When Raphael threw Jane an impromptu bedroom graduation, who didn’t want to snuggle in with the Villanueva ladies in Jane’s bed.  

5. Nick and Schmidt (The New Girl)
You know it’s true love when you throw yourself a TinFinity party signifying ten years of blissful friendship.  Some might say that's over the top, but my best friend and I flew sixteen hours to Sydney, Australia to celebrate twenty years of friendship.   A little park party seems only fitting for a friendship as epic as Nick and Schmidt’s.  

6. April and Beth (Chasing Life)
Beth is the best friend everyone not only wants, but everyone needs.  She’s April’s defender, secret keeper, cancer syndrome Googler, hair stylist and the perfect hospital sleepover companion.  God forbid you ever get cancer, you can only hope you have Beth at your side to give you a different hair colors/cuts everyday rivaling Katy Perry’s ever changing looks.

7. Liv and her Gladiators (Scandal)
TeamFitz and TeamJake will be debated on twitter till Liv changes her permanent mailing address to Vermont or “in the sun.”  But when that red wine splatted on her pristine white couch, did anyone doubt that the gladiators wouldn’t spring into action.  Granted, some might say Huck’s torture methods err on unhealthy, but you can’t question his loyalty to Liv. If anyone ever told Abby about her missing BFF, we know she would flip out.  Those two’s history was beautifully on display when Abby’s abusive husband came back into the picture.  The gladiators might be flawed butch but in their own twisted way they do love each other.

And Three Classics

8. Will and Grace (Will and Grace)
When the show's title is the characters' names, you know the friendship is basically a game changer.   Sure, they married and had kids with other people, but the real love story was the platonic, at times extremely unhealthy, love between Will and Grace. 

9.  Lorelai and Rory Gilmore (Gilmore Girls)
Again the show title says it all.  Who didn’t want to grab coffee with this mother daughter duo at Luke’s, especially if it magically gave you their metabolisms? Actually, who didn’t want to have a light lunch of pizza, Chinese, pop tarts, donuts and fries with Stars Hollow's favorite girls.

10.  Cory and Shawn (Boy Meets World)
If TGIF kids measure love by Cory and Topanga standards, then we measure friendship by Cory and Shawn.  And these are hard to live up to.  Poor Topanga had to recite her vows to both of them because she knew these BFFs would be together in sickness and health till death do them part.

On February 14th Take Valentine’s Day Back because whether you’re single, dating, married or “Facebook It's complicated”  it’s a day about love, not just romantic love.   Or you can particpate in my traditional Valentine's day celebration by binge watching these great loves.  Happy Valentine's Day!

Not to question the marketing savviness of the good Sisters at Our Lady of Sorrows High School, but the Jane the Virgin coin maybe shouldn’t have been their signature swag item.  Possibly they should design #JustLikeJane bracelets. I could write a thesis on Jane’s stellar morality through this first season. When we get in Hiatus Hell, I might just do that. 
For now though, simply look at Chapter Twelve for Five Times we should all act #JustLikeJane.

1.There are some things in life that seem impossible.  Sticking to a low carb diet, flattering white pants, avoiding after-Christmas sales and, of course, loving your enemy. No one would expect Jane to comfort Petra the Pariah, not even Petra herself.  But Jane does because she’s not typical, she is extraordinary.

2. Jane makes the people around her better.  She didn’t have to encourage Raphael to see his sister in the mental intuition and she definitely doesn’t have to go with him.  She also didn’t have to take the letter from Luisa, but that wouldn’t be Jane.  It’s contagious. Being around her makes  people want to be #JustLikeJane.

3. She’s loyal.  The moment she hears about El Presidente's  unfortunate Fade to Black moment, Jane doesn’t hesitate. She will not write the episode that will thrust the literal and figurative knife into her father’s chest.  She doesn’t give a second thought to her own dreams of writing or what she will be giving up.  Once again, she’s only thinking of others.  Seriously Sisters, start designing the bracelets.  Maybe it’s a charm bracelet and you can add on a “Jane the Virgin” limited edition charm if you’re looking for a good upsell. 

4. She’s hardworking. Rogelio simply asks her to write the greatest death scene ever.  That won’t be hard.  Sure, Jane has time.  She’s only interning, waitressing, counseling Raphael’s family and, of course, growing a human. Granted, she is fueled by Alba’s signature grilled cheese.  I think having a homemade grilled cheese delivered to you computer side is most writers' greatest dream and might be the cure for ninety percent of writer’s block. Even with Alba’s little piece of heaven, Jane is a Type-A machine that makes us all wonder if she’s living in a thirty-hour day world. 

5.  Jane’s peach, soon to be avocado or whatever fruit that Baby email assigns next, should be giving her more emotions than a Taylor Swift album, but she’s the emotional pillar of strength for her loved ones. She’s strong for Raphael when he deals with his sister and stands in the wings for her father’s final bow.  

I can only imagine the countless more moments whenJane will make us all want to be #JustLikeJane.   So Sisters get to Etsy and think big. I see #JustLikeJane on jewelry, coffee mugs, iPhone cases or at least trending on Twitter on Monday Nights. So make the world a better place and watch Jane the Virgin Monday nights on the CW and try for a day to be #JustLikeJane.