Dear Gentleman,

Source

First off, happy Valentine's Day.
I'm sorry if it's not the love-filled day it should be for you.
Let me come out by saying how wonderful you are. 
Really. 
If you've never heard it before, just know that you and all your goodness is something I will always appreciate.
Always.
You know how to ask me on a proper date because you actually know what a date is, how to plan it, and how to follow through with those plans.
For kicks, here's some of the crap I've put up with in the past year or so.

Him: Can I please come get a kiss.
Please
Me: Nah, but one might be inclined to give one at the end of a date. A real one.
Him: Cool. Chipotle it is.

I love Chipotle as much as the next person, but c'mon.

Here's another instance,. This text came after we had already established a date, time and place to have dinner...

Him (via text message): Come to Buckhead bars
Me: ???
Him: I would like to talk & have a few drinks with you. So meet me at the Buckhead bars ; -)
Me: I don't do bars ;-) 

Needless to say, I didn't meet up with him, and although he gets points for being so forward, where's the respect? Unfortunately, this was neither the first nor the last time he pulled a stunt like this. I learned my lesson the hard way.

One more.

Him (via text message, again): Would you like to go out Thursday
Me: What did you have in mind?
Him: A movie or dinner maybe both
Me: Why you wanna take me out?
Him: Because I like u you know that u said I never made a move so I'm trying now
Me: I'll make a deal with you. Come with me or meet me at church next week & we can go out after
Him: That's good so which service r we going 2
Me: Whichever. I was thinking the 6:45pm
Him: Ok
*THREE WEEKS GO BY*
Him: Hey

The really sad part is, I was willing to overlook the fact that he asked for a date through a (grammatically incorrect) text message. Furthermore, not only was I stood up, I didn't even get an apology - just a belated text message (another text message) saying "hey."
We never spoke again, not even via SMS.

SO, to every gentleman who's ever taken me out for any reason, thank you. You value my time just as much as I value yours, and as I mentioned before, you know how to follow through on the plans we've made. Sometimes you even take the initiative to make all the plans, all by yourself, and that's cool too. You don't propose a date through a text message. Even in a world where it's so easy to avoid calling a lady, you take the time to do it anyway.

Once we've gotten past the getting-to-know-each-other phase, none of these qualities you possess wear off, but different sides might start to show.
If I'm trippin', you tell me.
That's right, you're a risk taker.
And so am I.
But you're not perfect.
And I don't expect you to be, because neither am I.

All that being said, it's highly unlikely that you're alone this Valentine's Day, but if that happens to be the case today or any other day, just know there's always a woman out there who knows your worth and sincerely appreciates you as a person.

I'll be having a tall glass of Red in your honor this evening.

♥