The look…of love…in those dead eyes.

Can’t wait to meet up with Ancient Rome and make it weird.

It’s also possible that Valentine’s Day originated because, later, as Christianity found its footing the church was desperate to come up with a holiday to replace the Roman festival of Lupercalia. During the celebration, (I’m gonna need you to brace yourself here) 2 nearly naked men (is this where Cupid came from?) would run around slapping people with pieces of goat skin. What was ancient Rome? Why was ancient Rome?

It was discovering the rather questionable potential histories of Valentine’s Day that made me yearn for an alternative. Enter, St Joseph of Cupertino, the Patron Saint of Aviation. His story is one of overcoming a learning disability to become a dedicated servant of the church. He was well versed in self- denial, only eating solid food twice a week; he also put bitter powder on the food he DID eat (this seems a bit much but go off, sir). He was known to have fits of ecstasy where he’d have visions and speak in tongues, he could heal the sick, and sometimes he would literally levitate off the ground? We are sure that absolutely happened and is in no way exaggerated because this guy was cool and is better than St. Valentine could ever hope to be (and definitely better than getting slapped by a dead goat).

Look, was he perfect? No. But who is? He had to try multiple times to join a religious order, since he was flighty (I had to) and had a hard time paying attention or accomplishing tasks. He overcame all of this, and isn’t that really the story of aviation, and of love? In overcoming seemingly insurmountable odds, we are made, and relationships are forged.

Maybe for some people, those odds are about finding love. And maybe for others, those odds are about dismissing the higher ups who tell you that you can’t levitate or join the Franciscan Order. Hundreds of years later, those odds would be 2 brothers in North Carolina dismissing public skepticism and the laws of gravity.

Did Joe actually levitate? HE believed he did. Were his visions and fits probably just a consequence of barely eating, and putting God (literally) knows what on the food he DID consume? Probably. But hey, at least our pick kept his head.

Gravity/ Stay the hell away from me. – John Mayer/The Wright Brothers, probably