Tomorrow is Valentine’s Day. Not really a holiday for single folks like me.

I remember being in love on Valentine’s Day. But somehow, that perfect evening you read about or see acted out on soap operas has just never come my way.

When I was first out of college and working in the real world I was dating a guy I’d known for several years at LSU. It was an on-again, off-again relationship, but things got pretty serious when we “matured” in our 20s. He was my first real love. I’m pretty sure I was his.

But of the Valentine’s Days that passed while we were together, the one that stands out most in my memory bank is when I decided to cook the Valentine’s meal: I put double the amount of sour cream than was called for in the stroganoff. We ended up with take out Chinese. Not what I’d call the perfect evening.

And so things went from there. Boyfriends came and went, and so did a husband.

This year my valentine will be a beautiful girl, just shy of 10 years old. She’s sassy and too smart for her own good, but she’s extremely sweet and lovable.

So even though I’m single, I won’t be flying solo this Valentine’s Day. But many of you out there will.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, 44 percent of the American population – or 100 million people – are single.

Relationship expert Audrey Valeriani is trying to reclaim Valentine’s Day as a holiday for singles. In her book “Boot Camp for the Brokenhearted: How to Survive (and Be Happy) in the Jungle of Love,” she says you don’t have to be in a relationship to appreciate the holiday of love. She says singles should spend the day doing something that makes them feel good, not something to make others feel good.

Valeriani offers some feel-good, unique and fun things to do for yourself on Feb. 14. They include:

• Consider making this evening the official beginning of your search for Mr. or Miss Right and spend some time on the computer. Sign up for eharmony, yahoosingles or match. com. Take the time to fill out your profile and wow your potential suitors with what a great catch you are. Play an active role in finding your mate.

• Take a long, luxurious bath, pamper yourself with a manicure and pedicure, put on your comfy pajamas, eat your favorite food and watch your all-time favorite movie.

• Find another way to give your love that evening and visit a nursing home, hospital or other place where there are people who are also alone and wanting companionship and love.

• If you prefer a night at home, show yourself some love. Sit with a pad of paper and write down all your good qualities. Then assign a dollar value to each ($1, $5, $10) and go buy yourself a present that will always remind you how great you are.

Whatever you have on the agenda, whether you take one of Valeriani’s suggestions or you come up with your own Valentine’s Day plans, remember, don’t drink and drive. Spending the night in jail is not the way any Valentine’s Day should end.

To all of our readers out there, have a great Valentine’s Day. Single or otherwise.

Sandy Cunningham is publisher of L’Observateur. She can be reached at sandy.cunningham@wickcommunications.com.