Write letters for valentines day

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For as long as I can remember, I have always loved sending and receiving mail. I didn’t fully understand the concept of mail until I was in 3rd grade. My grandmother worked at the first Hallmark store in our little hometown and she always gave the perfect card with her gifts. In her cards, she took a moment to write a little something, a special message from her to the recipient. Her writing intrigued me. Her thoughtfulness was so special.

When I went away to college, “Momo” became my pen pal. She wrote every 2 weeks, asking how I liked school and telling me about home. I don’t think she ever knew how special her letters were to me. It was like I had a private part of her, secret conversations that would never be spoken out loud. I cherished the letters even more once her hearing began to fail.

She taught me how people communicate through writing. She taught me to respect anyone willing to share themselves through a silent, ink-filled voice. Holding the paper that she wrote on meant something. I imagined her stopping in the middle of her day to write to me, which made me feel special.

If you could write a short note to someone, what would you say? What if it made their day? What if they cherished it? What if they marveled that the paper they were holding was once in your hands? If you could write, “You are special”, or “You make me smile”, to your child, niece, nephew, sister, husband, neighbor, or someone small, so they could read it as many times as they wanted, would you do it?

In marriage and family counseling, I often find myself suggesting letter writing. When a client has lost someone, we discuss writing a letter to that person to say the things that they didn’t get to say. When a couple is at an impasse, we practice writing in a shared journal to communicate more deeply. When a teenager is at odds with his parents, we write a structured letter, organizing feelings from desires.

Consider your relationships – all of them. To appeal on a grander scale allow me to ask, what would be your last conversation with one of those persons be about? If you somehow knew that circumstances were about to change and you would not be able to say another word to someone, what would you say? It might be something really wonderful and special. My grandmother had no idea she touched my heart at such a young age. She merely wanted to have a connection with me.

I think about her letters every Valentine’s Day.

Posted by Michelle Browning on February 2, 2016