Looking for Love on Valentine’s Day
It is both banned and celebrated across the globe. Different cultures have various names for it, such as: Affection Day, Friend’s Day, All Hearts’ Day, and White Day. But we know this annual observance as Valentine’s Day. That one day of the year that can either fill you with you bliss or bitterness.
For children, it all seems so innocent. Giving paper cut-outs to friends and gobbling up cinnamon heart candies. A flower from a secret admirer in high school that made single friends envious. Valentine’s Day may be seen as commercialized frivolity as we witness couples exchange gifts of chocolate, teddy bears and greeting cards with hearts and flowers. However, it is also a reminder that people of all ages continue to seek out that greatest emotion known to man--—love.
Canada Love Stats
Finding love at any age can be elusive and deceptive. According to Statistics Canada, more than half the population of Canada is single at 52%. This includes never-married, widowed or divorced. While the proportion of the population of Canada that is married (including legally married, legally married and separated, and common-law unions) is only 48%. In real numbers, this translates into 17,059,166 single men and women of all ages in Canada in 2007. A rather large pool in which to hunt for a mate.
And this pool is getting disproportionately larger. The 65+ demographic is expected to reach nearly 15 per cent of the global population by 2040. With longer life expectancy and an increase in divorce accompanied by a rise in senior online dating sites, more older adults are single and looking for love. Human instinct will lead people to seek out love, romance and companionship in their later years as a basic need.
To Love and Be Loved
Yet we remain hopeful and optimistic. For as writer George Sand stated over a century ago, "There is only one happiness in life, to love and be loved." We never really give up the search for love throughout our lives. We hold out for it, sometimes longer that we should, and regret missed opportunities of what could have been. We question what the real essence is. Is it real? Will it last? Is this what it should feel like? Those who have love, revel in it. Those who don’t, yearn for it. It is the stuff of poems, fairytales, and melancholy melodies.
For those in a relationship, Valentine’s Day is a time to celebrate the love you have. With all its passion, comforts, frailties and foibles. If you’re single, it can be a time to remember loves past and remember the feeling of being in love. It’s still out there. Keep an open mind and never stop looking for it. It could be right around the corner.
Related:
How to be a Sweetheart at any age
Speed Dating For Seniors
Falling In Love Again: Love At First Sight…Really?
Seniors on Screen: Harry and Gertrude
