Shoppers are filling the card stores three rows thick in front of displays; cash registers in candy counters are ringing a happy tune; floral designers have shifted into overdrive to fill all the orders; sweethearts are spastic to find just the right thing that suggests just the right meaning: Happy Valentine's Day!

Once a day for sweethearts simply to celebrate their love for each other, Valentine's Day has become more complex in more complex times.

William "Bill" Bonaparte has been searching for a pendant for his significant other for a couple of weeks. He wants it to be expensive but not too costly.

"I want her to know that I care a lot about her, but I don't want to have to set up an installment plan to pay for it," he said. "Of course, nothing I could buy could equal what she means to me. She's my priceless jewel."

Bonaparte opted for a heart-shaped pendant with a small emerald slightly off-center. The purchase cost him less than $1,000 and more than $100. He was satisfied with his choice.

"I like it," he said simply. "It's a sensible size, not too big and her birthstone is emerald. The woman who helped me called it tasteful, and I agree with that. I think something like this will let her know that I'm serious about her but not ready to take our relationship to another level. I think this says that."

Along with the pendant, Bonaparte said he will buy the biggest box of candy he can find to complete his Valentine's Day shopping.

For Maydelle Rivers, Valentine's Day is something of an anniversary. It was on Feb. 14 two years ago that she moved in with her boyfriend. They are planning to be married in three years, one year after he finishes college.

"He's been working for about six years now and had been wanting to go back to school," Rivers said. "So, keeping a full-time job and going to school part-time takes a lot out of him, but he keeps going and I keep encouraging him. Everything I say and everything I give him has some positive message of encouragement. For instance, the card I got for him this year talks about the two of us working together to make our dreams come true and how it's always easier when you have someone who loves you. Always something to keep him going. And he's the same way with me. He's very thoughtful."

Rivers knows she will be receiving candy and flowers on Valentine's Day, "and probably some other surprise gift.

"He probably has it hidden in the house already," she said. "And he knows that he will have his favorite meal -- pork chops smothered in gravy with creamy, rich mashed potatoes and fresh string beans seasoned with ham hocks. I've been doing that for him ever since we've been together, and I'll do that as long as we're together. I love the look on his face when he sits down at the table for that. He looks like a little boy at Christmas time. He's so cute."

Keeping her gift giving simple, Rivers is keen on giving her boyfriend something practical, something that he really needs. This year she bought him tools.

"He has been talking about some new wrenches from Sears," Rivers said. "I knew he was giving me hints and I took them. I look at Valentine's sort of like Christmas. I think people should get the gifts they want. I don't make it that easy for him though. I want him to surprise me. I like surprises."

Complicating Valentine's Day giving and receiving for Marcia Johnson, her husband was called into active duty little more than a month ago. She suspects that he took care of his gifts to her before he left for military duty in Afghanistan.

"I think he enlisted our son to give me the Valentine's Day gifts," Johnson said. "I say that because our son, who is only 11 years old, has been really touchy about me going into his room. He was never like that before and I think or I hope he's still too young to be hiding Playboys. So, I believe his father told him to give my Valentine's gifts. They love conspiring."

Johnson has sent cards, candy and pictures to her husband and she says special prayers for his safety every night. She writes letters to him twice a week and encourages her son to do the same.

"But to make Valentine's Day as special as I can make with him away from us, I've been mailing a letter a day for the whole week," she said. "In each one I told him a part of what will be his complete Valentine's wish from me. When he gets them all, they will tell the whole story. But couldn't tell him how much I miss him," she said almost tearfully.

"Whatever he gets from us, I want it to keep him strong. I don't want him worrying about us here. I just want him to take care of himself so he can come back to us. I know I'll love what he got me for Valentine's but the best gift in the world would be to have him with me. But that's the sacrifice you have to be willing to make when you're with the military."

Even in complicated times, some love is so tried and true, that it manages to maintain the simplicity of earlier Valentine's Days.

"My wife and I have been married 43 years," Harry Nelson said. "She has been telling me exactly what to get her for 40 years. She realized early in our marriage that I didn't know how to shop for her. So, she took the bull by the horns and just started telling me what to get. It would really be easy if she'd just go on and buy it too. But, I can't expect her to do that. I guess it means more if I go out and pick it up. I guess, for her, it's not about being surprised, just happy. And that's what every man ought to try to do for his wife -- keep her happy."

T&D Staff Writer Thomas Brown can be reached by e-mail at tbrown@timesanddemocrat.com or by phone at 803-533-5532.

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