For Citizen TV's Senior Reporter Francis Gachuri, February 14 is a unique day. It marks both Valentine's Day and his wedding anniversary.
Gachuri shared his thoughts on the day, revealing that he views Valentine's Day as overly commercialized. He said,
"For me, it is not much about Valentine’s Day – the ‘special occasion’ that people perceive as a day of showing love. February 14 is overrated. It is more of a commercial venture than a real love day; attention has been shifted to the material aspects of it such as buying flowers, boxes of chocolates…, but not necessarily about the content of the day; which should be love."
Wedding Anniversary ¶
Gachuri coincidentally got married on February 14, 2009. He and his wife Carol Muthoni had initially planned their wedding for the second Saturday of February 2009, which happened to fall on Valentine's Day.
Gachuri emphasized the importance of reflecting on their progress as a couple. He stated,
"For me this day is about celebrating seven years of marriage. My wife and I observe it as a day of mirroring our progress since we got married. I think we have done well: we had set our goals which we have achieved exceedingly more than the predetermined targets."
Marriage and Relationship ¶
Gachuri highlighted the significance of friendship, sincerity, and faith in his marriage. He noted,
"Number one is friendship; two is sincerity and three is faith. We are very good friends, hence treat each other well. Sincerity – I know when we inform or correct each other, we do so with a lot of sincerity. Faith – we have grown in faith; I am Catholic and my wife is Anglican."
Gachuri also shared his wishes for how people could approach Valentine's Day differently. He expressed,
"I wish people could focus more on content rather than the cover. It is like having a cup and tea – I would rather appreciate people to focus more on the tea than the cup. Why should one wait for Valentine’s Day to show love, appreciation and affection to his or her partner? Why not do it every day?"
Parting Shot ¶
Gachuri concluded with a message of happiness and setting realistic targets in marriage. He advised,
"You should not get married today and expect to have a car, a house… in just a year; set targets."
The recovered account cited reporting by Citizen Digital.
