My high school sweetheart went to college five hours away while I was still going to school as a senior in our hometown. At Christmastime, he proposed, and then he had to go back to college. That was before cell phones and emails. I looked forward to his handwritten letters and our weekly phone calls at his parents’ home. Those love letters got me through the wait of being separated.
Recently my cousin framed a love letter written by my Uncle Skillet to my Aunt Virginia. It had lovely penmanship, telling of a different era. Dated July 24, 1946. They had worked on a Mississippi River barge together and fell in love. When Uncle Skillet came down with jaundice, he had to be hospitalized for several weeks. During that time, they wrote each other a great deal until he could return to the barge again. They were married that December. How they treasured those letters!
My niece Jessica had been married to Nathanael about nine months when he left for Afghanistan. He was only able to send her one letter the year he was gone. For most of his deployment he was on a base where they had regular mail deliveries, but no real system for getting mail out. Instead, they Skyped, and also stayed in touch by phone, email, and Facebook. When she got a call or message from him, she was so relieved to know he was still safe and doing okay. It took a lot of effort for him to get in touch with her. Most of the time, he had to walk across the base to a different building and wait in line after working a twelve-hour shift. This extra-effort made Jess feel very loved and missed. You can imagine that one letter from him was very special and their ultimate reunion was extra sweet.