My 2026 Valentine Card, A Most Unconventional Valentine

 

For nearly two decades, I've made it my personal tradition to design and create my greeting cards, notecards, and holiday greetings from scratch. Year after year, the challenge grows: how do you keep things fresh, meaningful, and truly unique when you've already covered romance, whimsy, humor, and heartfelt sentiment more times than you can count?

This Valentine's Day, I decided to veer way off the beaten path—and straight into the delightfully macabre and historical.

Instead of the usual hearts, flowers, cupids, or sappy love quotes, the front of my card this year features... the body of Saint Valentine himself. Yes, you read that right. A striking, lifelike wax effigy of the third-century martyr, complete with his serene (and slightly waxy) expression, housed in a glass sarcophagus. No chocolates or roses in sight—just the patron saint of lovers in all his preserved glory.

Why this bold (some might say bizarre) choice? It has a deeply personal, local connection that I only discovered a couple of years ago, and I was stunned it isn't more widely known.

 

In my hometown of Florissant, Missouri, the historic Old St. Ferdinand Shrine — one of the oldest churches west of the Mississippi— holds a remarkable relic: fragments of Saint Valentine's remains are enshrined inside that very wax figure, placed beneath the altar during a renovation in the 1880s. The shrine itself is a treasure of frontier history, tied to figures like St. Rose Philippine Duchesne, but this hidden gem of a Valentine connection feels especially fitting for February 14th.I wanted to shine a light on it. While the world floods with commercialized romance, here's a reminder of the saint behind the holiday: a real historical figure (or figures—scholars debate if there was one or two Valentines) martyred for his faith, whose legacy somehow ended up in a quiet Missouri town.

The card's interior keeps things light and explanatory, sharing the Florissant connection and a gentle nod to the holiday's deeper roots. But on the envelopes? Pure, over-the-top romance because contrast is everything.So many Valentine's cards offer sweetness and sentiment. Mine offers something different: a conversation starter, a slice of obscure history, and a touch of the unexpected. They also offer a rather unique postmark. Every year I mail them from a remote location with a Valentine-themed name for a special postmark. This year I chose Valentines, Virginia. I’m eager to see what it looks like. I’m not entirely sure that the recipients pay attention, but it just adds a little extra fun.

If you're ever in the St. Louis area, I highly recommend a visit to the Old St. Ferdinand Shrine. It's quirky, beautiful, and surprisingly moving. Who knew the patron saint of love had a Missouri address?

 If you’re curious about the number of cities in this country that have Valentine related names, you can find the complete list along with the city and ZIP Code here. 

 Happy Valentine's Day—may yours be filled with genuine connection, a little history, and zero clichés.