People typically think of Valentine’s Day as a time to celebrate romantic love, but this year, the holiday really taught me about the importance of friendship.

Now, I love love like the rest of us. I want a man to come and sweep me off my feet, carry me away to that happily ever after fairytale ending. But if we have a day to celebrate romance, we should also have a special day to celebrate friendship.

Ultimately, my Valentine’s Day became a lesson on friendship, and it came in the most unlikely fashion.

I spent the day like a typical Sunday when I have to work — church in the morning, then work in the afternoon. Since it was Valentine’s Day, I fit in a movie with friends in-between. The day was cruising along fine, no anxiety about being single on the day designated for romance. But that night all of my plans were changed.

My last story was completed in record time, so I was going to go see another movie that night with a friend. After problems saving pictures on my computer for one of my stories, I had to cancel plans at the last minute. I’m grateful to have a friend flexible enough to change plans.

Then I finally got to leave around 10 p.m. to drive home, but disaster hit on the way. I got a flat tire on U.S. 52 close to Pilot Mountain. The tire was a mess, blown beyond repair. Thank God I didn’t have a wreck. Knowing absolutely nothing about how to change a tire and grumpy after a long day, I was reduced to tears.

But one phone call sent a co-worker of mine to the rescue. She came with a neighbor, Bob, and within minutes he changed my tire. They then followed behind me to take my car to a gas station, since my spare tire was almost out of air. We couldn’t put air in it since the valve somehow blew off as I was driving, so they took me back to the office so I could wait for a family member to come get me.

That night I complained about the incident, how I had already been planning to get new tires two days later and why my car just couldn’t wait until then. But my co-worker kept me grounded. She reminded me that it could be worse, mentioning a friend of hers who was recently diagnosed with cancer.

That’s when I realized just how thankful I am for friends. Not just friends that will tolerate me changing plans at the last minute or come to my aid late at night, but ones who aren’t afraid to say something that pricks my heart and gives me a reality check.

Romantic love is great, but my life would be a mess without brotherly and sisterly love.

Meghann Evans is a staff reporter with The Mount Airy News. She can be reached at mevans@mtairynews.com or at 719-1952.