It’s amazing what folk will do for love.
I once drove 300 miles through the night during one of the worst storms in decades to get my elderly dog to a vet’s appointment on time.
He snoozed on the back seat, oblivious to the fact that I couldn’t see the motorway lane markings under the flood waters and my eyeballs had dried out because I didn’t dare blink.
But that’s the thing about true love, it’s given generously and without a care for anything in return.
Valentine’s Day in the fog
This Valentine’s Day I spent most of the evening being mum’s taxi, also in horrible weather and struggling to see the road when fog suddenly descended.
No candlelit dinner for me but I probably wouldn’t have it any other way.
Years ago my husband drove me 13 miles to McDonald’s at midnight so I could satisfy my pregnancy craving for tartar sauce with a Filet o’ Fish.
What’s more, when I was convinced they had put mayonnaise on it instead, he drove me back to get it sorted out.
If that’s not love then I don’t know what is. Unless he had an equally powerful craving for a McChicken Sandwich that night which he has never yet admitted to.
If memory serves, they had run out of tartar sauce and had used the next best thing.
Then again I was a tired and emotional pregnant lady with a dill pickle habit standing in McDonald’s at midnight, possibly in my slippers, so recollections may vary.
Come to think about it, it could have been a Chicken Mayo and my tastebuds were so out of whack I didn’t notice it wasn’t even fish, who knows?
I’ve learned that love doesn’t always look like how I’d thought it would look, but more importantly, to buy two jars of tartar sauce and not just one when I’m doing a big shop.
Another couple who didn’t go for a candlelit dinner this Valentine’s Day were Hilda and Louis Neil of Peterhead, who opted for a trip to the cinema instead.
The pair went to The Arc cinema, 62 years on from their first date, which was also a night out at the pictures.
That time it was to see The Great Escape featuring Steve McQueen looking cool in a leather jacket on a motorbike.
This time it was to see Wonka, featuring Hugh Grant as an Oompa-Loompa, so you can’t have everything.
In 1961, ex-army officer Louis swept Hilda off her feet by planning a surprise wedding while on leave.
Hilda said he told her the day before while they were on the bus home after a day trip to Aberdeen.
They have now spent more than 60 happy years together so it just goes to show, it’s not the venue but the person that matters when it comes to a marriage proposal.
That said, some people are taking popping the question to extremes, choosing spectacular locations and even a photographer to capture the moment.
The Isle of Skye is now a top choice for going down on one knee, owing to its breath-taking scenery and also its connection to TV series Outlander.
Local photographers Rosie Woodhouse and Penny Hardie say the trend for dramatic proposals caught on camera started in America.
Now they not only snap the occasion for their clients, but they help them find the perfect spot and even manage to stay incognito until the big moment by posing as hikers.
Rosie said they look like “just two middle-aged women out bird spotting or taking landscape pictures, nobody ever notices us”.
High heels, dresses and kilts
One groom-to-be from Argentina brought his future fiancée, his family and his best man to Scotland and wanted them to look their best for the photo at Armadale Castle.
To throw them off the scent he had them wear kilts, dresses and high heels for the whole trip, telling them it was the dress code when visiting a Scottish Castle.
I don’t know if I would have said yes to a man who had made me clip up and down turrets in party shoes for three days, but like I say, it’s amazing what folk will do for love.
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