Love Letters

I love "love letters". They always bring a smile and I feel better when I read it. I am blessed to know that a love letter from my daughter or my husband or my mom can make my day much better when I read it. It shows me the love they have for me and it brings back memories.

Recently, I remembered when I was writing my blog about my mom that she had sent me a get well card while I was sick at college. I thought I had lost that card. I remembered very well what was wrong with me at the time and I remember she was sick too. Now I think about it and crying about being sick with strep throat isn't half as bad as dying from cancer. She was sicker than me and I thought I had it bad at the time. I never knew what had happened to that card. It's amazing how things don't matter too much til the person is no longer with you and then you start to wonder where those letters are.

I got blessed. I was at my dad's house picking up the kids. He had given me a box of things I had left at my sisters house. I found that get well card in that box. It brought tears to my eyes. I never appreciated the words she spoke until I had read it again.  What was more amazing was that I had not only found the get well card in that box but two additional letters from my mom telling me how much she loved me and was proud of me. I never realized how much those words could mean until now. Reading those letters from her expressing her love and happiness for me made me feel good. I had missed my mom so much. I lost her when I was only 19 years old. I think about her all the time. Reading those letters was like reading it for the first time. I had no clue she had written me two additional letters.

My brother told me that finding those letters was her way of trying to tell me something. It was a way of God reminding me of her, allowing me to hear her voice again through paper.  I wish I could hear her  voice again. It's odd how you have memories of people but their voice seems to get lost in translation.

I have written my husband and my daughter love letters many times. My son get's pictures since he can't read. I never realized how writing a simple letter showing your love and appreciation for the person can make such a huge impact. My husband has saved all my letters I have written to him. I hope that one day if i'm gone and he misses me that he will go back and read those letters as if it was the first time he had read them. I hope that my daughter understands the importance of getting things from your mother is more important than anything else in the world. Having a mother-daughter relationship is so important. I love my daughter so much. I love getting love letters from her as well. Those letters have a great deal of meaning to me. They bring me joy and happiness and lots of love just fills my heart when I get a letter from her. I had only wished that my daughter and son as well as my husband were able to meet my mom.

Parents, take the time today and write your kids a love note, see what their reactions are when they read it. See how much better you feel when they write you a love note back. If you don't have kids, write your spouse or significant other a love note. In today's world, e-mail and Facebook are easy ways to express your feelings but it's not the same when its written with your own handwriting. I saw my cousin Debra post about her husband hiding a "I Love You" note in her wallet. She wasn't feeling good and seeing that handwritten note from him with just a simple I love you made her feel so much better.  Hand written notes have so much value to them. No one writes the same, we all have unique handwriting and that handwriting makes that note so much more special than an e-mail. Take the time out today and do a handwritten note to someone special and make their day brighter.