Love Letters
Time Magazine has a special issue out on romance. The articles are rather silly for the most part, but just as I was getting annoyed at the heterosexual monogamous assumptions in them, bless their hearts they actually has an article looking at the differences among gay, lesbian and straight couples. Nice.
But by far and away the best bit was a couple of pages excerpting real love letters from the book Other People's Love Letters. Jacob was 5 when he wrote "PHoebe I love you And I Might marry you". :-) One of the letters *really* took my breath away though, and I'm quoting it here in full because, if you ever wondered how to write me a morning-after love letter, this is how *grin*:"You asked me to 'give you a little something?' Well here it is: I'm giving you half my heart. I wanted to give it to you today -- even though I'm spacy, a little bit sore in all the good places and still have absolutely no saliva -- because it's what I feel and I know it's 'real.' I also know that tonight will be hard for you, and that there will be harder times to come for both of us. But right now, I just want you to know that last night was totally off-the-charts incredible for me in the most surprising and profound ways. Even as I write this, I can feel my heart (the other half) twinge and my skin tingle (those frissions again) when I think about how strangely, wonderfully comfortable I felt with you... so close, so calm, just lying there in the pre-dawn delirium, softly touching, bodies entangled. I want to use the word intimacy even though I know the professionals will say it can't be so because it's not a 'real' relationship. All I know is that being with you was amazing. You're amazing. Really.
Oh, and as for the other half of my heart, I'm going to hang on to it and try to keep it in a safe place for a while. Maybe you'll let me know, someday, if you want it. And maybe, someday, I'll give it to you."
[Picture of a half heart attached to the bottom of the note]
Sweet Goddess! I would be falling Soooo incredibly hard in love if I found that note on my pillow after a night like the one it describes! I mean it's not Shakespearean sonnetry, but the way it mixes quiet, hopeful, realism with delicious delirium is exactly what defines romance to me. Anyone with a personality to match that note can have a quarter of my heart right here and now (with the other quarter waiting tremblingly for that night of passion to come).
But by far and away the best bit was a couple of pages excerpting real love letters from the book Other People's Love Letters. Jacob was 5 when he wrote "PHoebe I love you And I Might marry you". :-) One of the letters *really* took my breath away though, and I'm quoting it here in full because, if you ever wondered how to write me a morning-after love letter, this is how *grin*:"You asked me to 'give you a little something?' Well here it is: I'm giving you half my heart. I wanted to give it to you today -- even though I'm spacy, a little bit sore in all the good places and still have absolutely no saliva -- because it's what I feel and I know it's 'real.' I also know that tonight will be hard for you, and that there will be harder times to come for both of us. But right now, I just want you to know that last night was totally off-the-charts incredible for me in the most surprising and profound ways. Even as I write this, I can feel my heart (the other half) twinge and my skin tingle (those frissions again) when I think about how strangely, wonderfully comfortable I felt with you... so close, so calm, just lying there in the pre-dawn delirium, softly touching, bodies entangled. I want to use the word intimacy even though I know the professionals will say it can't be so because it's not a 'real' relationship. All I know is that being with you was amazing. You're amazing. Really.
Oh, and as for the other half of my heart, I'm going to hang on to it and try to keep it in a safe place for a while. Maybe you'll let me know, someday, if you want it. And maybe, someday, I'll give it to you."
[Picture of a half heart attached to the bottom of the note]
Sweet Goddess! I would be falling Soooo incredibly hard in love if I found that note on my pillow after a night like the one it describes! I mean it's not Shakespearean sonnetry, but the way it mixes quiet, hopeful, realism with delicious delirium is exactly what defines romance to me. Anyone with a personality to match that note can have a quarter of my heart right here and now (with the other quarter waiting tremblingly for that night of passion to come).