The 'Parks & Rec' Cast Celebrated Galentine's Day & Fans Can't Handle The Love

While Valentine's Day may be too commercial for some, Parks and Recreation gave the world a companion holiday that's pure of heart with Galentine's Day on Feb. 13. Many women honor this pre-Valentine's Day holiday of female friendship and for 2018, even the Parks and Rec cast celebrated Galentine's Day. Aubrey Plaza, who played April Ludgate, posted a photo on Instagram with Amy Poehler, Rashida Jones, and Kathryn Hahn for the special day. The beloved show went off the air in 2015, but it's a testament to the bonds that were made on set that these four female cast members spent Feb. 13 together. And the post did the impossible of making Galentine's Day even more special for Parks and Rec fans.

Poehler's character Leslie Knope was the creator of Galentine's Day on Parks and Rec. (Although showrunner Mike Schur should be credited for actually creating the holiday.) Leslie hosted a breakfast celebration of female friends that occurred every Feb. 13 and male significant others were left at home. In the words of Leslie Knope, Galentine's Day is all about "ladies celebrating ladies. It's like Lilith Fair minus the angst. Plus frittatas." The first "Galentine's Day" episode of Parks and Rec took place in 2010 during the show's second season. Yet, eight years later, the spirit of Galentine's Day is alive and well for the cast as demonstrated by Plaza's post.

Plaza wrote, "happy happy galentine’s day. these women keep me alive" as the caption of her Feb. 13 post. Hahn, Jones, Poehler, and Plaza are all smiles in the selfie as a cozy fire roars behind them. Jones also posted the same photo hours later with the caption, "Galentine's Day! Forever and ever."

On the show, there were three Galentine's Days, including an unofficial one in Season 6 where Leslie attempted to find a replacement best friend since Jones' Ann Perkins had left Pawnee. As Plaza's character April was one of two people who attended each of Leslie's breakfasts (the other being Retta's Donna Meagle), it was only right that she was the one to share the Galentine's Day picture on her Instagram. And even though Hahn's character Jennifer Barkley never attended a Galentine's Day on Parks and Rec, she was included in this day that should be a national holiday in real life.

Since Poehler is not actually Leslie Knope, there were no signs of needlepoint pillows or mosaics with her friends' faces on them in the photo. But that sure didn't bother Parks and Rec fans. This celebration of female friendship plus a mini-cast reunion was almost too much for the hearts of Twitter users to handle.

The only thing that fans seemed to be upset about was the fact that Retta wasn't also in attendance.

Plaza's post isn't the first time she has shown appreciation for her Parks and Rec cast. She has honored Galentine's Day before with photos from the episodes. And just this January, she wrote about her friendship with Jones in a moving Instagram post. Plaza wrote, "just wanna take a moment and say how honored i am to have @rashidajones as my friend. she is my big sister for life. she was instrumental in creating #TIMESUP and giving a voice to so many of us who have trouble speaking up. i thank you and i love you forever (and so does April even though she hates you)."

While Hahn and Poehler don't have personal social media accounts, Poehler celebrated the day through her Amy Poehler's Smart Girls account. The organization asked people to share photos of their own Galentine's Day and so it's lovely to know that Poehler had her own celebration as well.

The holiday has only grown in popularity over the years with more and more people embracing Galentine's Day. And the women of Parks and Rec are continuing the tradition established on their show by simply demonstrating the beauty that is their lasting friendships.