Edwards pointed to all sorts of boxes, including traditional heart-shaped boxes, clear plastic containers, even Chinese food carry-out boxes.

The type of candy depends on the person, she said. “Adults like chocolate; teens and kids like gummy candy.”

Chocolates include chocolate turtles with chunky nuts, sugar-free chocolates and a variety of Lindt Lindor tortes.

There also can be more meaningful ways to show love or affection, said Lisa Deason, clinical director of Green Country Behavioral Services.

“We can look at love in two different ways,” she said. “There’s the immature love in which the things another person does pleases me, and there’s the mature love, in which a person is happy when the partner is happy.”

A mature expression of love asks “What can I do that makes the other person happy,” Deason said. “If the other person enjoys westerns or action movies, you can spend time going to a movie, even if you don’t like westerns.”

Deason also suggested “a lovely card or note put in the windshield or mirror.”

She said she appreciates little things her husband does, such as putting notes in her lunch.

“Those say he cares for and appreciates me,” she said. “He sent me a text message on a hard day saying ‘at least they can’t eat you.’”

Another sign of affection came when “he went out and washed my car,” she said.

“With the economy the way it is, it is important to be mindful of what the holiday is really all about,” Deason said. “We don’t have to have a holiday to go to someone we care about and tell them how much they mean to us.”

Terry, a receptionist at Green Country Behavioral Health Services, would agree.

“You can’t go to a store and buy what my husband gives,” she said. “He is giving of himself.”