The Realm of the Verbal Processor

Love Letters

For my wife and I, there are a couple of months where the 26th day of the month is special…her birthday and our anniversary both fall on the 26th day of different months. I decided to start doing something special on the 26th of every month…writing a love letter to Julie. Not digital…on paper.

I bought a Moleskine notebook specifically for this purpose. Starting on Julie’s birthday, I wrote her a love letter…front and back of one page. I set a recurring task in Outlook to remind me on the 22nd of each month to start thinking about the letter. Each month I write another letter in the book, and on the 26th, I put it somewhere where she will find it as she goes about her day. There are 240 pages in the book. 12 months per year. 1 page per letter. That’s 20 years worth of letters. We will be celebrating 32 years of marriage that year. I’ll buy another book at that point.

One of the cool things about this process has been that it forces me to slow down, sit down, and think about how to express the love I have for Julie. Let’s face it…as guys, we tend to default to grunts as communication tools. Surprisingly, women don’t tend to respond positively to grunts. The letter gives me the opportunity to think not only of what I love about Julie…but also how to express it. I know that Julie has enjoyed the letters, but honestly I think I have benefited more from them than she has…it has caused me to be a better husband. 

I forget exactly where I first got this idea, but it has been a great experience. Today being the 24th of the month, I sat down this morning and wrote the letter that I get to deliver on Friday. It may have been my best work yet. I’m looking forward to blessing her with it!

October 24, 2007 - Posted by Jarvis | life, relationships | relationships, romance