When one thinks of Valentine’s Day, images of sparkling diamonds, decadent chocolates, bushels of roses and a plate of hand-cut steak paired with a glass of wine often come to mind.

Tomorrow, lovers around the world will be sharing a day of bliss, happiness and affection, each reveling in their own little love story.

Sean Schneider, a manager at Benton’s in Port Neches, has been serving lovers on their special day for 25 years.

To this day, Schneider remembers a very different love story, one full of sadness, happiness and friendship.

“A long time ago, when Benton’s was still a private club, one of our members lost her husband,” he said. “A couple days later, I had a new member join the club. He was also widowed, so I thought it would be a good idea to set them up.”

To Schneider’s dismay, the two did not fall madly in love but, rather, grew a fond friendship and foundational love that lasted for years.

“Although it didn’t turn out to be anything romantic, they winded up being good friends that would come in here all the time and eat together,” he said. “They took each other to go out dancing and everything. They did that for about five years before one of them passed away. So, while it wasn’t anything serious, it is a true love story I will always remember.”

For Carolyn Harris, Valentine’s Day is the most important day of the year at Harris Florist in Nederland.

The family-owned shop has been open since 1960 cultivating, arranging and delivering pre-made and custom flower bouquets from classic roses to vibrant lilies.

Harris, owner of the 2707 Avenue H shop, said she has seen many romantic gestures come and go through throughout the years.

“Valentine’s Day is always fun because you can tell by the look on the guys’ faces how important something is,” she said. “The fun part is that the men are always so excited that you can never tell if it’s their first time buying flowers or if they are seasoned floral experts.”

Harris said she has seen some of the biggest public romantic gestures to the smallest personalized ones.

“The largest single order we’ve done to date included delivering 10 dozen roses and 10 different vases all to one lady at one time,” she said. “Another time, we had one man deliver something different every day for two weeks. We did candy one day, a gold-dipped rose the next, balloons the day after that, and we did that every day for two weeks.”

As the years pass, Harris said she has seen jewelry, stuffed animals, unicorns, candy, balloons, and even one time, a gun, packaged with a fresh volley of roses.

“This man came in one day and asked what was the largest box of roses that we had lying around,” she said. “We gave it to him, he put this gun in there, looks up and says, ‘Now it’s Guns n Roses.’”

Despite her laughter, Harris said her favorite moment was a memory that included a once-in-a-lifetime proposal.

“There was this one really romantic moment where we helped this man hide an engagement ring,” Harris said. “We nestled it in the center of a rose as a surprise. It felt amazing to be apart of something like that, and we get to be a part of these grand gestures every year.”