At some point you remember again and it's like a whole new excitement.
I had forgotten about this little time caspule I put together for Elizabeth after she was born.
I was so excited to look inside and see the things that I thought were important to keep.Balloons and cards...
Newspaper from the day she was born...
All the obvious things from the hospital...
And these treasures.
When Elizabeth was a newborn I asked her grandparents to write her a "letter to the future." They have been sealed for the past 13 years and won't be touched until some special day in the future. Maybe her 21st birthday, or when she marries. Also pictured is a journal entry that we were given a copy of from a man in our ward who paid a visit to our home and wrote about his experiences.
This got me thinking about letters. In this day of E-mail and such I don't think I have actually sat down and wrote a letter to anyone for years, other than a few thank you cards. Following is my experience with letters and why I love them.
*I received many beautiful letters and notes after we lost our baby boy almost 3 years ago. They offered hope, love, condolence and a little joy at a very difficult time. Here are a few snippets:
"Maybe knowing that I am thinking of you will help at least a little bit."
"Our thoughts and prayers are with you."
"Our conversation on the phone reminded me how important each and every moment with our children is, no matter how many or few."
"Sometimes it's hard to understand the reason for some of life's struggles."
"We hope you recover quickly and that your family will feel comforted and loved."
Words of love help to strengthen and uplift. I love and cherish these letters.
*I came across a letter years and years ago my mom and dad have. It's from a very dear lady I knew when I was a little girl. She wrote a letter long before I was born expressing her condolences to my grandmother after her six month old baby passed away. I think about this letter often and the words she expressed, "Don't worry Lilly dear, she is in Heavenly Father's arms." (or something similar to that, it's been a while since I read it and it's currently missing.)
Sorry those are kind of grim. I enjoy happy letters too.
*While cleaning out her aunt's things after she passed away, my mom came across many love notes that her uncle wrote to her aunt while he was in the military serving during WWII. My dad sent me this picture, I can't make out the words, but I do know it's addressed to:
"My Darling"
*Yesterday in church Elizabeth wrote Brent a letter as part of her Young Women's lesson expressing love and appreciation.
I love the Random Sampler section in the Ensign. I enjoyed reading this and thought it was a fantastic idea,
"One way to establish and maintain long-distance relationships is through our family home evening create-a-letter night. First, each person draws or chooses the name of an extended family member or missionary. Then we set out paper, stickers, punches, and markers and start creating a variety of unusual letters."
I love personal letters and don't write them often enough. I'll write one today.
11 comments:
Debie, you said you were thinking about a letter post and boom, its here already. Impressive. This is a way keepsake for your journaling. I love that you and now a grown up Elizabeth could enjoy this little treasure. Love the letters. Its true it is a lost art for sure. Glad you could write about it and show the pictures. I can't believe how time has flown.
All those letters you have come across have really valuable things to read about. Lucky girl.
wow a wonderful treasure you have...
I love notes and letters. Letters are for-sure a wonderful keepsakes. Thanks for such a sweet post. Have a great day:)
That time capsule is so cool. To think you hadn't opened it for 13 years and remembered that you had it, is amazing. How neat for Elizabeth to have that. I should do something like that for my kids. I think it sounds so exciting for them.
I feel the same way about letters with email! It's always nice to get something from the mail besides bills and junk. Those words that touched you during your time of loss, will stay with you forever. How neat to have friends and loved ones that are always thinking of you.
I have been meaning to write a letter for awhile now to my friend who lost her baby and its just been so hard of thinking what to write - it just feels like whatever I say will just not be enough, but its important to say SOMETHING, thanks for the reminder. I will write her today.
There really is just something about a letter. Thanks for sharing. I love that you kept a time capsule! I've been writing a lot more letters the past year to a couple brothers I can't email. It's been an interesting change for me. I've saved every love note Matt has written to me :) My family also has a copy of the letter my grandpa wrote to my grandma when she was on her mission...proposing to her! Maybe I should share that story on my blog.
Speaking of proposals, when do we get the rest of the story on yours?
I love Letters! Nobody says "Darling" anymore! It is a dying term and it is pretty sad! When I was in England there was a young hotel worker who called me, Da-w-w-l-ing! He made my day!
I had a box full of letters that my silly friends and I wrote back and forth to each other while growing up. I got rid of it when I got married, but I SO wish that I had kept it.
Just the other day, I found a sweet little note from one of Hannah's friends to her. I too love personal letters. I need to write them more often.
me too, Im going to write my letters i have been thinking of doing!
I love this post and have so much to say about it.
Let me start by saying that I have worked at Hallmark for nearly 9 years, so I am a huge fan of cards, stationary, etc. Hallmark is totally on to the fact that it's easier for people to send an email (and free) so they actually have a little insert in every box of stationary thanking them for the purchase and saying how special a hand written note is.
I try to send out hand written notes atleast once a month to family and friends. I think it means so much. And don't you get so excited to get a letter in the mail?!?! I know I do!
Also, about the time capsule....you and I are so alike!! I have made a time capsule for each of my children. Well, I am in the middle of making it for my Elisabeth right now. I add to it throughout their entire first year. Momentos from the hospital, cards and notes from family and friends offering words of advice for the future, favorite toys, newspaper articles...lots of odds and ends. I plan on giving them to my girls on the day that they graduate from high school. It will be a surprise for Alexandra, but obviously then the other 2 girls will know that they have one coming too.
I love that you decided to write a letter today. I have a feeling the recipient will cherish it forever.
That is so cool!! You gave me a great idea to do that for this baby. That is just priceless!
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