Dear love muffin: You cool
As a writer, I feel that I best express myself on paper. When I start to talk about my emotions, even happy ones, I just cry. Really, I just wail when I’m put on the spot. The idea of being in vulnerable position is terrifying, even if there is a good chance my feelings will be reciprocated. I can’t explain it. I suppose my nerves just turn into a giant ball of rubber bands.
A touching love letter creates a feeling that rarely can be matched. It doesn’t need to be an award-winner. The only thing it needs to be is honest.
Honest. Straight from the heart. Full of love.
It doesn’t need to be chock-full of big vocabulary. It doesn’t need to contain the rhythm of prose. It can be just three words, none of which are “I love you.” It can be silly. It can make you smile. It can make you tear up.
Just as long as it is sincere.
I once received a little note from my ex-boyfriend “Charlie” that simply said, “Dear love muffin: You cool.”
He never actually called me “love muffin,” that was a joke. And because he was sort of a non-emotional kind of guy, I knew that “You cool” was his way of saying that I was the most amazing girl on the whole planet and I made his days brighter. He was being honest in his own way. He was being true to his persona of “man of few words, but overflowing with loyalty.” It was simply his way of expressing love.
Even long after our love affair faded, I still remember that note. It was original, and it wasn’t cut and pasted from a popular poem or song lyrics. He didn’t need Tennyson to help him get his point across. He knew that “Dear love muffin: You cool,” would mean more to me than the most glorious extravaganza of words Hallmark could ever craft.
Whether it is goofy or Shakespearian, the true beauty of a love letter begins when the ink hits the paper.
In the days leading up to Valentine’s Day, let’s take a look at some famous, and not-so-famous, declarations of love.
5.
President Ronald Reagan was very public about his love for wife Nancy. He was adamant that writing frequent love letters helped keep their fire sparking. His humor, mixed in with his undeniable infatuation for his soul mate, makes his letters timeless pieces of American history. Here is the letter he penned to his love in 1972, prior to their 20th anniversary. (transcript below)
From here
State of California
GOVERNOR’S OFFICE
SACRAMENTO 95814
RONALD REAGAN
GOVERNOR
My Darling Wife
This note is to warn you of a diabolical plot entered into by some of our so called friends – (ha!) calendar makers and even our own children. These and others would have you believe we’ve been married 20 years.
20 minutes maybe – but never 20 years. In the first place it is a known fact that a human cannot sustain the high level of happiness I feel for more than a few minutes – and my happiness keeps increasing.
I will confess to one puzzlement but I’m sure it is just some trick perpetrated by our friends – (Ha again!) I can’t remember ever being without you and I know I was born more than 20 mins ago.
Oh well – that isn’t important. The important thing is I don’t want to be without you for the next 20 years, or 40, or however many there are. I’ve gotten very used to being happy and I love you very much indeed.
Your Husband of 20 something or other.
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Tags: letters, love, valentine
