Love letters. Two words for something consisting of many lovely lines. Delicate. Passionate. Perhaps hesitant. What words would a lover choose? How would they string them together? Would their beloved feel caressed by each sentence? If a note was sent in reciprocation, I’d like to imagine a spritz of perfume gracing it. For hundreds of years sealed envelopes have harbored declarations of devotion. Sadly, the art of letter writing has slowly dwindled. It has become replaced by emails and texts. Granted my heart has skipped a beat from a love text, but it’s not quite the same thing!
In modern day it is rare to receive a handwritten note. It is convenient to send a quick hello via text, but high tech is certainly not without fault. When typing to family and friends I sometimes feel as if my phone’s spell-check has gone rogue. A couple of years ago, I texted my dad that my twin daughters were having fun with their new babysitter. Strangely, “babysitter” was changed to “Beowulf.” My father wondered if his terrible twos granddaughters had gotten so unruly only an ancient Geatish warrior could tame them.
Unlike writers of the past, we are so used to modern devices with spell-check and backspace. Can you imagine what Lord Byron would have done if, in the middle of a poem, he misspelled “thee”? Would he have had a conniption fit, broken his writing quill and uttered an oath. Did they even use profanity in the Romantic era? Not sure.
In actuality, I am a letter writer. Picking out stationary delights me. Writing thank you notes makes me giddy. I can’t wait to stick photos, potpourri and glitter inside. In the back of my closet are a few boxes filled with received letters, notes and poems. Memories of a life lived. Perhaps someone has a box, deep in a drawer, containing a letter from me.💗
