To borrow from Beyonce, Valentine’s Day, although globally recognised as the day of love, can either be a “sweet dream” or a “beautiful nightmare”. Observer Online asked Jamaicans to share their best and worst Valentine’s experience. The stories we heard had us in all our feels!

One moment we were turned to mush, looking to the heavens asking when it will be our turn to be loved on completely, and the next, we were vowing to run far away from the grips of love, no turning back. We know reading these love stories, or should we say tales of heartbreak, will take you on a roller coaster ride as well. So here’s to sharing our participants’ best/worst V-Day experiences.

BEST

Monay, 28 (Mountain View, St Andrew)

“This was my best Valentine’s Day experience with this person. It was the first Valentine for the relationship but you know Jamaican men don’t really believe in Valentine because they tend to say it’s a ‘gay holiday’. Still, I was dropping my hints leading up to Valentine’s, letting him know that even though you believe this about the day, I would still like to celebrate it, and mi wah mi likkle gift and mi wah feel special. Anyways, the day came and I waited and waited. I went to work and nothing came. I didn’t even get a text, no likkle nothing. So mi start to cry now and feel extremely sad because, at work, other girls were getting their baskets and everything. Anyways, the day after I was at work and I received a gift, a scavenger hunt kind of thing. I went through the hunt and found all my gifts on every stop, everything I always wanted. My boyfriend told me he deliberately didn’t do it on Valentine’s Day because he wanted us to create our own special day and not ‘dem man deh day’ (laughs). From that day on we only celebrate Valentine’s Day on the 15th of February.”

Shantol, 30 (Maverley, St Andrew)

“I don’t really believe in the hype of Valentines but I’m never going to say no to gifts and being loved. I think maybe because I wasn’t expecting anything, when I actually received this surprise on Valentine’s it really swept me off my feet and it was nothing extra or outrageously expensive, it was just the thought the person put into it. He wanted me to feel special because I guess he kind of knew other women would be receiving gifts. So, at my office on Valentine’s Day you have different intervals throughout the day when the front desk asks the security to deliver whatever goodies they received. I watched with happiness as some of the ladies I worked with at the time received their bouquets of flowers, wines, boxes of chocolate with the nice little cards attached. There were maybe three batches delivered before I got the sweetest surprise ever. I am a lover of teddy bears so that’s a gift you can give me on a whim. He knew that and so I remember in the fourth batch of gifts that were delivered, I saw the cutest life-sized teddy bear being carried in across the security guard’s hands like a big baby (laughs). I thought it was sweet but I never expected that big guy to be mine. Lo and behold though, he was. Knowing how much I adored teddy bears, my boyfriend got me one and sent it to my place of work just so I could be in the Valentine mix.”

Christopher, 32 (Maverley, St Andrew)

“I’m not good at telling stories but I will share for all the guys who keep getting the same thing for Valentine’s Day every year. If all she’s giving is herself, then you know where you stand King! My girlfriend always tells me I work too much. Sometimes I barely have time to get lunch. One Valentine’s Day during my lunch break, my girlfriend calls and asks if I’m busy. Luckily that day I wasn’t swamped. I told her not really and she responded, “Good, because I’m downstairs waiting to take you to lunch.” Mi never move so fast fi reach downstairs inna my life but truth be told I was starved! I got to her car and we proceeded to one of my favourite lunch spots. She told me to order anything I wanted including drinks. I had a glass of wine and one of my favourite meals and I honestly thought I was lucky just to get this break and time with my favourite person. But that wasn’t even the most special part. She also had a gift for me. A chunky gold chain I had been eyeing for some time. She said she deliberately didn’t gift me my gift that same morning as she wanted me to be surprised. Valentine’s isn’t just about the women being gifted, so ladies get your man a gift for V-Day and I’m not talking about the usual.”

WORST

Suzie, 37 (Atlanta, USA)

“I don’t think I have any luck with Valentine’s Day, so now it’s just a normal day for me. But when I was younger, my worst experience was maybe 10 years ago. I was in what I thought was a solid relationship, so naturally I was excited about what would have been our first Valentine’s Day together. I’m a hopeless romantic, so I was helping my friends get their plans together while dropping hints on my then spouse about how I wanted the day to go for me/us. I thought he was taking it all in and was going to give me the sweetest surprise. I was indeed surprised about how the day turned out but nothing was sweet about it. Long story short, on the day my boyfriend told me he doesn’t believe in Valentine’s Day, so he wasn’t paying attention to anything I was hinting at. He basically said it was a (homosexual) holiday and him nuh support it. I guess after he said it, he saw how hurt I was because he gave me some money and told me to get myself something. It was so insensitive. The boyfriend after him wasn’t any different when it came on to Valentine’s so mi just leave da day deh alone.”

Champae, 37 (Portmore, St Catherine)

“Looking back, I think I was so naive that I still feel kind of embarrassed sharing this story. I was seeing this person for six/seven years and every year we spent Valentine’s together. So this one particular year we made plans like we usually do to spend the evening together. We made reservations and everything. Plans were all set. I had just bought my van, maybe a year prior, and him did have it a drive. That evening we made plans, he was supposed to pick me up at a specific time. I’m there waiting on him, waiting on him and I can’t see him coming. I called him the entire night, no answer. I thought something was wrong only to find out that the boy did go out with another girl in my van and left me stranded. A true story. Can you believe that? My van with a next girl pan Valentine’s Day.”

Chrissann, 40 (Spanish Town, Jamaica)

“I still don’t know if I should laugh or cry about this. So I love Valentine’s Day. Something about the red and white, the roses, the chocolate, the teddy bears, I just love everything about it. My boyfriend at the time knew this and was acting funny in the days leading up to the big day. We were together for a while and so naturally we discussed marriage. I thought we were on the same page as far as that life decision was concerned and, given how he was acting, I thought he was going to pop the question on Valentine’s Day. I got my hair and nails done because your girl was going to be looking her best stepping into her fiance era! On the day we went to dinner, he seemed nervous. I thought this was definitely it, it had to be the only explanation for his weird behaviour. Anyways, we were at the end of dinner and he still didn’t get down on one knee. I said to myself, maybe he’s waiting for us to go home where we’re alone. Truth be told, I wasn’t big on huge productions. When we got home, he did have a surprise waiting on me. He went to the closet and pulled out a small box. My heart dropped! But he didn’t get down on one knee. He stood there and watched as I opened the box. Inside was a pair of earrings with my birthstone. They were cute but not the stones I was expecting. We were clearly not on the same page and I never made him any wiser. I smiled and asked him to help me put them in but, deep down, my heart was breaking. After the smoke cleared, I told him what I was really expecting to be in that box. He asked me why I would even think that would be it. Safe to say we didn’t last much longer after that.”

– Shereita Grizzle