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Wynelda Shelton

Love Letters of a Lifetime

Love Letters of a Lifetime: Romance in America
Foreward by Dana Reeve
Complied by Bill Adler Books
Copyright 2001 Life Time Television
ISBN 0 7868 6705 1

I love to write letters, the handwritten kind where you choose everything from the words to the stationery to the ink. I have several different sets of stationery, a set for almost every mood: Winnie the Pooh stationery (a set of Eeyore, too), stationery with fairies, and even a set with angels writing furiously, to name a few. There’s something intimate about choosing which one to use, because the paper is a barometer of my mood.

“Love Letters of a Lifetime,” complied by Bill Adler Books, explores the meaning of the romantic love letter. By giving the reader examples, and the stories behind the sample letters, this book drives home a very important fact. In the face of technology, of e-mails that are sent instantly and faxes and phone calls, the written word is still important in everyday life. Its significance is there in the letters saved and cherished for decades, and the ones that were written even in the days of email and voice messaging.

Sometimes it’s easy to forget that we, as writers, can share our thoughts and feelings with someone close to us. It doesn’t have to be a short story, an essay or a poem, (although all three are nice to both give and receive). It doesn’t even have to be a romantic love letter to have power.

Recently, I sat down and wrote a letter to my stepmother. We had had a rocky beginning, but lately have been bonding. I wrote and told her that I was glad that even if my mom couldn’t be with me during this stressful, wonderful time of planning a wedding, I did have a mother to help me through it. I told her how grateful I was that she listened to me at a time when I seem to be running on and on. I told her I loved her. I mailed it off, and a few days later my dad called and told me that I made her cry. I immediately apologized: “Oh Daddy, I didn’t mean to make her cry. I’m sorry.” Dad chuckled. “She wouldn’t have it any other way. It means a lot to her, and to me,” he said.

Give the gift of a letter to a loved one. Unexpected, perhaps, but never unwanted. You’d be surprised how much it means to others. I still have letters that my mom wrote to me over 20 years ago. At the time, they were visible proof that I was loved and had a home to go back to once my vacation was over. Now, they remind me of a mom who loved me dearly. I can read her words, and a voice that was silenced too soon is heard in my heart once again.

Sit down and put pen to paper. Let your love flow through your words.