MCCALL — Feb 7 — A notion has blossomed to address the holiday not by scorning it, but by redefining it as a time for celebrating The Greatest Love of All: Yourself. Quirkyalones aren’t looking for partners to make their lives complete. They prefer lifetimes of solitude to compromising their romantic integrity and feel just as comfortable single as they do in relationships. Roughly 70% are women. This attitude is becoming more prevalent among young women, in part because they no longer need to rely on husbands for financial security, experts say. One-quarter of U.S. women between ages 30 and 34 have never been married, almost four times the rate in 1970, according to the 2003 U.S. Census.

MCCALL — Feb 7 — A notion has blossomed to address the holiday not by scorning it, but by redefining it as a time for celebrating The Greatest Love of All: Yourself. Quirkyalones aren’t looking for partners to make their lives complete. They prefer lifetimes of solitude to compromising their romantic integrity and feel just as comfortable single as they do in relationships. Roughly 70% are women. This attitude is becoming more prevalent among young women, in part because they no longer need to rely on husbands for financial security, experts say. One-quarter of U.S. women between ages 30 and 34 have never been married, almost four times the rate in 1970, according to the 2003 U.S. Census.