Like Christmas or New Year, we consider Valentine’s Day as a special time of the year.

It is the time when we get to express our love and affection for someone through flowers, chocolates, food or even simple letters.

I can say that Valentine’s Day for me was quite special

Don’t get me wrong, it is not just for lovers. I believe that for as long as somebody is dear to you like your parents, siblings, friends, relatives and neighbors, you can still celebrate it with them and make it special.

That’s exactly how I spent my Valentine’s Day.

I grew up as a student-athlete. Yes, there had been perks, but there were also lots of limitations, especially in managing our time for special occasions like the Valentine’s Day.

So, for the past few years, I celebrated Valentine’s Day with my teammates. We had training for Petron that day. It was quite tough, but that’s part of the life of an athlete and I’m gladly embracing it.

When I was at De La Salle University, our managers used to surprise us with flowers after training. There’s hardly any time for us to go on dates because the second week of February is very busy for us since it was the start of the University Athletic Association of the Philippines women’s volleyball season.

Although I’m now in the Philippine Superliga, celebrating Valentine’s Day still depends on my team’s schedule. We know that “volleyball is life,” so there’s really no assurance if we would have free time on Valentine’s Day.

All I know is that training is our main priority and we have to adjust our time for a love life (LOL!).

Okay, as I was saying, during the previous Valentine’s Day, I was with my Petron teammates.

We had a team meeting at the San Miguel Corp. headquarters in Ortigas, where we heard Mass, had an early lunch and had a meeting with our boss — Alfrancis Chua — and Petron management like we usually do at the start of every conference.

I spent my Valentines weekend with this very special person — the love of my life, my Mama. Later that night, we had a tune-up match.

After that, we had dinner of various grilled Filipino food like barbecue, isaw and liempo for our imports — Stephanie Niemer and Katherine Bell — to experience. We brought them to this very simple, but nice, place around the University of Santo Tomas area so they could experience that kind of ambience. We all enjoyed our dinner.

I can say that Valentine’s Day for me was quite special.

It was good that Regine (Velasquez) and Vice (Ganda) had a concert that weekend. So, we grabbed the chance to watch it. We’re so glad that there were still tickets available because my Mama is really a big fan of Regine.

That Valentine’s Day concert made our celebration a little unique and maybe because my siblings chipped in to give our parents a Valentine’s gift. They really saved up to make our parents feel special! (LOL).

A little effort like that counts and, for me, it’s better to show or let them feel it than by simply saying it. It’s better to love yourself first and appreciate the time and effort of the people around you.

Valentine’s Day may be a special day to most of us.

But for me, it’s just another dot on the calendar.

I believe that we can still show how much we love and care for each other not just during Valentine’s, Christmas or New Year — but everyday.

Let’s live every day as if it is our last.

Let’s treat every single day like it’s Valentine’s Day.