50. I Love ... Getting Letters

Getting a letter;

what a rare occasion that is

and getting rarer.

I have boxes of letters 

from the past.

Way back to when I was

twelve years old 

and I started every single letter with

"How are you. I am fine."

I treasure my letters,

thinking of the writer's hand on the paper,

their thoughts on me.

I have a letter from my grandmother.

One.

I recognized her writing immediately

when I came across the 45 year old envelope.

I hadn't remembered it and was excited

to see what she had written to me;

a little piece of our relationship, preserved.

The entire letter -

a single line:

"Where is your mother? I can't get a hold of her."

Even that tells you something.

The day after we got engaged

Brian went away for the week.

I had been so excited to get a letter from him;

touched that he had been thinking of me,

pleased that he took the time,

delighted to have something

eloquent and romantic

as a keepsake.

Here it is, forty years later

 and I can recite the entire letter,

word for word:

"Having fun at the beach."

Some letters are so memorable
and touch your heart
forever.