A Virtual Valentine's Day

Hello Papa Bear!

I know it's kind of late, as Valentine's Day is almost here. But your reply on the 6th spurred me to ask my own question about V-Day.

My girlfriend and I are on opposite sides of the country and, after reading your letter, I realized just how much I wish I could do. I've already ordered flowers for her, and I've racked my brain trying to think of other things I could do. Sadly, it's obviously not possible to create a (physically) romantic setting when we're this far apart. So, in a way, this is a question for all the furry readers who ~aren't~ close, distance-wise, to their mates.

What should one do to enjoy Valentine's Day to it's fullest extent over a long distance?

Thank you for all you do!

~The Hybrid

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Hi, Hybrid,

Yeah, that’s a tough one, especially given the time limitations. If you were, like, Richard Gere in Pretty Woman, you could get in your private jet, then have your chauffeur drive you over with a fist full of roses in one paw and sweep her off her footie paws, but that’s not the case.

Fortunately, you and I live in a sophisticated era of technology. One of the advantages of this is that there are great communication options. You can do things like:

1) If you both have Skype (and if you don’t, it’s free, so get it!) you can get online and have a video chat with your loved one. To make it extra special, here’s what you do. Buy a bottle of Champaign, a couple chocolates, and a rose; do the same for your lover (you can have all of these items delivered via a local grocery store). Then have a virtual video date. Turn on some music on your end, share the chocolates and flowers together, toast each other and have a sip of Champaign. Go all out and dress up for your video date so you look nice for her, and pretend you are at a restaurant together.

2) Are you familiar with SecondLife? If so, you could both set up accounts (basic accounts are free) and you can meet each other in a virtual world, go to a virtual cafe, go dancing, and even talk to each other as you do so. It’s almost like being there!

3) On a little more primitive scale, you can simply have a phone date. That’s when you both turn on the same movie and watch it together as you chat (works best with a favorite movie you’ve both seen), or you can writer her a poem or a song and read or perform it over the phone. I did this once; sang to my love, "'Til There Was You." She liked it so much she made me sing it three times :-) (She also liked me doing Pooh singing "I'm Just a Little Black Raincloud" hee hee).

4) Create a “Love Blog” online where you post a bunch of your favorite photos of the two of you, maybe post poems or letters and maybe a list of your hopes and dreams for the future. Add a background soundtrack of your favorite songs. Then send her the URL.

Not much time left! So I hope you can use one of these ideas!

Happy Valentine’s Day,

Papabear