Abe remembers the old times. He recalls the small towns now gone, the ancient buildings, and his long departed life. His memories are both sweet and bitter. He has great accomplishments to recall, yet also bitter times, times of sorrow. Most of all, he recalls one person: Annie.
Abe has been away for many months. Every day while he's gone, he tells himself he'll write back to Annie tomorrow... but he never writes. Now, finally, he's coming home. After his silence, he doesn't know what to expect of his homecoming. The day he returns is his birthday, and the day before Valentine's Day. Both excited about returning and sad that he didn't write, he stops to buy Annie a simple object to try to show that he hasn't forgotten her: a valentine.
Sometimes a valentine can be more in the form of emotion than in the form of a physical object. Even a memory can be a sort of valentine. All physical things decay and disappear over the centuries. Emotion and memory endure.
"It is restful here, and I think I have earned rest. I have come a long journey; my work was finished long ago. So I rest. And sometimes, in the night, I walk for a while... and remember."