I guess spring cleaning is a thing because I just spent hours cleaning out the attic.
It wasn’t planned.
It wasn’t on the schedule.
I actually didn’t even realize I was doing it until about half way through when I recruited the rest of the family to form an assembly line. It started with a box of bandanas and cowboy hats from a long ago birthday party and 47 boxes later…
…you could actually see the attic floor.
In the middle of the clean-up, I heard the twins in the corner of the room giggling. Giggle after giggle after giggle started and stopped and then started all over again. I heard one of them read something to the other and then they’d burst into fits of laughter. Curious, I put down the vacuum cleaner parts I’d been collecting and started walking over to comedy central to see what they’d found.
Suddenly, I heard something that made my heart stop mid-beat.
Wait until you hear this, I heard my daughter say.
It was a box love letters.
From my husband to me back when a sailor left to fight for his country on distant shores and wrote his heart from across the sea.
And the twins were reading them.
“Oh yuck,” one of the twins said to her sister, rolling her eyes and laughing. “Listen to this one—‘I think of you all the time and can’t wait to hold you in my arms.’ And look”, she said pointing. “He drew little hearts.”
With that they both burst out laughing again.
I reached for the letter and smiled.
“I had forgotten all about those letters,” I said. “I waited every day for a letter from your dad. I’d read them over and over and over again until it made me miss him a little less.”
Then I paused and added. “And sometimes, I’d stare at a picture of him and smell his shirt and read the letter and it was almost like he was there.”
“Oh…mom,” my other daughter said rolling her eyes at me, too. “Why didn’t you just text him? Or Facetime him? That way you wouldn’t have to spend all that time writing all these letters.”
“And maybe you wouldn’t have missed him as much,” her sister chimed in.
“Facetime? Texting?” I literally laughed out loud. “We didn’t have anything like that back then. We only had cell phones and we used them for talking. You know. Where you dialed the buttons and heard someone’s voice.”
I folded up the letter and put it back with the others and placed the stack back in the box.
“Just remember this,” I said.. Being married it amazing. Even when you’re sad. Even when you’re away from each other. One day you’ll understand. You’ll fall in love and your heart will race and your stomach will flutter and you’ll want to write letters, too,” I added with a smile.
The twins looked at each other and laughed out loud.
“I don’t think we’re writing letters, mom. No one does that any more,” they giggled.
“Well, maybe not letters,” I said. “But maybe he’ll text you sweet things or write them to you in an e-mail and you’ll want to write him back.”
“Oh, I wouldn’t write him back,” my daughter said laughing.
“You wouldn’t?” I said surprised. “Even if it was a super sweet note?”
“No,” she said with one last giggle. “I’d just send him a blushing emoji.”
*sigh*
When did love go all 2017? 🙂
PS I just took these pictures of the farmhouse this morning. The sunshine told me to. 🙂
How true! I have been cleaning out too, and came across a stack of love letters, both ones I had written to my hubby, and those he wrote to me. Nothing like reading those even now to bring back the flood of missing him, and loving him, and wanting us to be together again. Those feelings haven't changed and we are in our seventies. Now we text, FaceTime, but still call if we are apart more than an hour or two! I think I'll go give him a big kiss, and make him some banana pudding today.
Priceless memory with your twins. Loved every word.
Times are different, aren't they?? Nothing like a reminder from our children! :) My husband is in the Navy and in those first deployments, there were no cell phones or email on the ships - we had to rely on letters, "snail mail" as the Navy liked to call it! But what a blessing they were when you are worlds apart!
Love that. Yes, things have changed but their isn't anything better than a love letter. You can keep them forever and text goes away or gets deleted. Years down the road you wouldn't have that special letter. I have some of those too. Thanks for sharing and hope our future kids will have some of the same when they get older to read...
They'll write letters...just wait and see.
I love this. Wondering what my boys will think when they come across all the cards I sent my hubby. When he would travel while we were dating I always sent a card. I even had a rose waiting for him for one of our anniversaries of dating and guess what? He ever so carefully wrapped it and brought it home to me. Of course this was late 80's when luggage wasn't hacked like it is today. When I read this I could hear the girls giggling. Just wait when that special someone captures their hearts it will all sync in:)
Kinda takes the gush out of it doesn't it? I know for me I would be all what if he didn't mean to hit that key...what is next to it... I haven't been spring cleaning, inside at least. Nor do I have a stack of love letters. Back to the yard for me. *hangs head in shame*
I could so relate to your story. Sadly I've been a widow no for 4 and half years but I still have all the letters from so long ago. What wonderful memories and so much love.
There is a lot to be said for the good old days!! ;)
Oh dear !!! What is facetime ???? My boys don't tell me everything ! .......
I still have love letter and we've been married 45 years. But this generation seems to have lost some of the skills of communication, or rather they've made new ones.
Jeff was walking around the neighborhood last month and while down at the boat house he found a love letter written by a little girl in the neighborhood to a young man. .... complete with drawn hearts. It still happens. :)
I go to craft fairs and I see (and buy) beautiful writing paper, note cards and cards. To me they are works of art. Nothing makes me happier than sending or receiving the written word. Everything old is new again. Your girls will write.....how could they not with a Mom who is so blessed with just the right words to say. xoxoxo
Love this and so miss that letters are becoming a thing of the past. Maybe your sweet girls will be inspired by their dear mom and dad and become letter writers. I still love and treasure hand written sentiments:) Now I need to get out pen and paper and write a letter. Thanks for the inspiration always, KariAnne!
I hope they'll write love letters. I love when I come across mine and sit and remember what it was like back in our early days. It makes me smile to think of how young we were and how far we've come...it's something special that an email or text will never be able to capture. Hugs, Cecilia
Ah, this is sweet. Every so often my guy write me a short and sweet note and I keep them all. He is a man of few words, so I know a lot of love goes into the words. I keep them by my computer in a little stack and they always make me smile.
I love these stories you tell!
Awww this is the sweetest post, how lovely you kept everything, you know what, I think one day, your twins will really want a love letter or two and they'll remember that day, giggling and the words you spoke, and they will want that above all else, it's just to romantic.....it made me cry, in a good way...x
Funny, funny...I laughed when the girls asked why you didn't just text each other and then I laughed even harder when you said you couldn't because you only had cell phones at that time. You see...being a baby boomer when my love (now my husband) when to Vietnam we only had letters that we waited very impatiently for. The letters could some times take weeks to get to us if he was out in the bush. Occasionally we got to speak over a ham radio where we each had to say "over" before we could speak and then of course the ham operator heard everything. Boy how times have changed! And oh by the way...I have a box of letters as well...isn't love grand!
Okay, I've GOT to know this. You see, I don't have any teens in our house - well we have a grandson who will be turning sixteen but I can't ask him . . . which one is the blushing emoji!! I'm new to this kind of stuff. I think it's wonderful that you kept the letters - I have mine too. He wasn't overseas but we were several states away. I'm sure I'll have a use fro a blushing emoji somewhere along the line. Hope your spring is turning out as pretty as mine. ?
Oh, I think they'll change their tune when the right one comes along. I always meant to save the emails from my then-boyfriend-now-husband but the computer died before I got them printed off. So sad. Another sweet thing ... my husband saves every single card I send him ....
Haha! I love it! I joked a while back with my students now that we have voice dictation on cell phones...soon we'll be able to voice dictate a text message and send it to someone and they won't actually have to read it...they'll be able to listen to us say the message...then we'll be able to voice dictate back to them in a text and they can listen to it and so on and so on. They got all excited and said, "That would be so incredible" and then I told them, "Oops, we already have that...it's called a phone call". They rolled their eyes at me like I was an old person...which I am in their world. :) Happy Monday Karianne.
Nancy, I love that!
Ahhhhh, Karianne. You are so right! I saved all the 'love notes' my dear friend James Szymkowski passed to me in grade school. I saved them in an old jewelry box. Even in my 20's I would go up in the attic, pull out that box, and reread those small, handwritten notes. Unfortunately, I don't have them any longer as my step-sister threw them away to be spiteful. I miss them so very much and often wonder where life has taken him... There is NOTHING like a handwritten letter, note, or card.... NOTHING!!! On a different note, your home is lovely! I have actually saved a picture of it ona Pinterest board dedicated solely to you!! And I envy the location.... even though I also love living on the Eastern Shore of MD!! Take Care... and tell the twins of was not so bad to live in the "olden days"... ?
What a priceless story! Blushing emoji...lol!!! The twins are so cute, I just love your stories!
Wow! How times have changed and you're right, so 2017. I remember writing love letters and notes and still give my hubs love notes from time to time. :-)
KariAnne, thanks for the precious memories! Love letters are wonderful! I have all mine and love to read them every so often! Your twins are so cute! One day, you can remind them of those love letters! Have a great day! Your home is so beautiful! Thanks for the pictures! You can just see that "love lives there!" Blessings!
Your house took my breath away in those pictures. It is beautiful! As for those love letters, the memories that come with them are priceless. Milena
I'd rather have a letter than a text or an email and certainly more than an emoji. On a Christmas gift card, my husband wrote a note to me and signed it "on our first Christmas of many". That was 36 years ago and I've carried that card in my wallet ever since. To me you'll never beat a handwritten anything. Keep those letters, Karianne, they are precious.
I totally laughed out loud when you said it was love letters! I could see their faces and smirks and hear their giggles. I do not have a sentimental bone in my body. I bet now that you found the letters again, you'll do something crazy romantic and crafty with them...;)
Loved your story...Kids don't know what they're missing. I wish the art of writing would return. Your home is ABSOLUTELY AMAZING!
Love the photos, and the story is so awesome.... That is so sweet you kept your letters to cherish for the rest of your lives.... I agree with the others one day your girls will write letters also.
They just don't understand...yet...do they? ;) Yup, they will. Your life is sooo storified! Thank you for sharing your sweet stories. And those pictures are beautiful! :D
The sad part is that because of all of the technology they won't have the memories in a box in years to come to look back on.
Love it! Some days I remember not having a cell phone to take photos, facetime, text, or even call and a panic comes over me that we had those years. I love your yard. And those peonies. They will soon be bursting forth in song. Mine sing. I'm sure yours do, too.
Love letters are a wonderful and beautiful remodel of special moments. I like to believe that even the kids with FaceTime, snapchat and texting will sometime send a card or a letter to someone they love.
I was so captivated by your story that I didn't even really look at the pictures! I had to go back and scroll to see all the beauty!! Love, love!! : )
I wish I still had our love letters. It was during the 60's and his next duty assignment was supposed to be to Viet Nam. An older and wiser (or so I thought) officer's wife, told me to burn them, because IF something were to happen to him I would spend all my time rereading them and not move on with my life. Being young and naive, I believed her and did exactly that. It is one of the few regrets of my life. About a year ago, I was bemoaning the fact that I no longer had them and my sweet hubby starting leaving a love letter for me everyday for several weeks. They could not replace what we lost, but they are precious and meaningful to me after 55+ years of marriage.
What a sweet post. Wishing letter writing wasn't such an antique. My husband and I wrote one summer, we sat down last fall and for the first time in 34 years read them out loud to each other. It was amazing the things we "talked" about in the letters are still things that have us talking. Thank you for a good reminder.