The Valentine Sheep

Origin of the Story


On Valentine's Day each year, young Bill would wake up to find two large heart-shaped sugar cookies on the kitchen table, one for him and one for his brother, Mike. The cookies were elegantly decorated by his mother as a special Valentine's treat. When Bill had children, he continued the family tradition and baked one heart shaped cookie for each of his four children. One day, one of his children asked, "Who made the cookies?" Bill thought for a moment, 'Easter has Peter Rabbit, Christmas has Santa Claus and Rudolph the Red-Nose Reindeer, Thanksgiving has a Turkey so why not an animal for Valentine's Day. Having a love for sheep, Bill replied, "The Valentine Sheep brought you those cookies while you were sleeping." And so, the Valentine Sheep was born. The story of the Valentine Sheep came to be when Bonnie took her father's idea and made it into a poem. She named the lamb Felicity from the Spanish work Feliz meaning "happy." Becky read the story and drew the pictures, bringing Felicity to life. The girls presented their father with the book one Christmas as a symbol of family love and togetherness.