Love Letters Help Keep the Flames of Love Burning Brightly

Have you ever written a love letter to someone? Do you write love letters to your current romantic partner? Throughout history, the love letter has been a way to fan the flames of romance, especially when a couple must be apart geographically. President John Adams and his wife Abigail Adams wrote many love letters to each other when he was called away to be involved with running our new young country. Napoleon Bonaparte wrote passionate love letters to his wife Josephine when he was at war. Elizabeth Barret Browning and Robert Browning wrote love poems to each other. The love letter is a wonderful way to express thoughts of love and caring when a couple has to be apart. With the invention of technology, there are many different ways to send love letters today.

The Hand Written Word

Pen and paper are the oldest and most common way to write a love letter. With the invention of email, it seems the actual effort to take pen and paper in hand and pour out one's thoughts with ink, on paper, has fallen by the wayside. But I must say that it is exactly that, the effort one must take to find a piece of paper, or maybe some beautiful stationery, an appropriate writing utensil, the time to hand write the letter, find an envelope, pay for a stamp, and seal, address and walk the letter to the mailbox or drop it by the post office, that makes receiving a love letter so special. The recipient knows that no matter what is written in the letter, there was much thought and effort made to prepare and send the letter. It's already special even before it is opened.

Love Letters Through Technology

With the predominance of technology in the world today, many people find it easier to just type a love letter. Although this is quick and easy, it is often shorter than a hand written love letter might be. But for those who are addicted to technology, any form of a love letter is better than nothing. And after all, it's the thought that counts. Email is a very quick and efficient way to send a love letter. It's much quicker than the U.S. postal service and is a good way to communicate your feelings to the one you love when they are traveling. It also has spell check readily available, so if you happen to be in love with someone who is an editor, or tends to edit things you write, you have a built-in corrections system! Texts are another way to send a love letter, but unless you have a keyboard on your phone, it takes a lot longer to type out than email. Texts and email are almost instantaneous, so work well in expressing feelings to your love when they are in an anxiety-producing situation, and you want to reassure them in real time.

Words to Use

Many people don't write love letters because they don't know where to start, or exactly what to say. Well, the details of your day don't belong in a love letter. What should be included are words and descriptions that will make your significant other feel loved. It could be a description of the things you love about them...not just physical characteristics, but also things about their personality. Imagine how your love would feel if you wrote out a list of 10 things you love about them, and describe each one. If you aren't very wordy, you can just list the ten things. Examples might be their sense of humor, their intelligence, their generosity, their honesty, their creativity, their eyes, their smile, the way they kiss, the way they live their beliefs, their loyalty to those they love, their sense of adventure, etc. You get the picture.

Or, you could describe a characteristic of the other person that attracted you to them in the first place, and why you still love them for that characteristic now. An example of that would be their concern for you, such as making sure the coffee is ready for you first thing in the morning, or always warming up your car for you on cold winter mornings.

Or, you could describe a dream that the two of you have together...to travel to Europe someday, or Hawaii, build your dream home, or take a cruise, and how the fact that they hold the dream in their heart along with you makes you fall in love with them again each time the two of you talk about it.

Or, you could describe something you watched them do, and how it made you love them even more. Examples of this might be when the two of you took your elderly mother out to dinner, and your husband jokingly escorted her by the arm, acting like a gallant knight, and even opening the car door for her, but in reality, he was making sure she didn't lose her balance and fall.

Or how your wife cares for your children by reading a story to them each night before bed, says prayers with them and tenderly kisses each one while tucking them into bed. Sometimes a love letter can be in the form of a poem, but it doesn't even have to have been written by you. It can be by another author, as long as you mention that this poem describes the way you feel about the recipient. Texts are usually shorter than either letters or emails, but can still convey words of love, such as a thank you message about something they did at the house for you that you noticed or a message about how you will be thinking about them during their meeting that day and hope it goes well.

Sometimes a love letter can be in the form of a poem, but it doesn't even have to have been written by you. It can be by another author, as long as you mention that this poem describes the way you feel about the recipient. My husband and I own a few books of love letter by famous people and have used quotes from them in our own love letters, giving the original author credit of course. One he uses is available on Amazon (see below).

Texts are usually shorter than either letters or emails, but can still convey words of love, such as a thank you message about something they did at the house for you that you noticed or a message about how you will be thinking about them during their meeting that day and hope it goes well.

Even when we have been together with someone for a long time, it's still nice to be noticed and appreciated. A love letter, love email, or love text, especially when it's not expected, can show just that in a way the spoken word can't.

Copyright by Karen Hellier, 2012