The Letters

Yesterday I mentioned a letter Paul wrote me about his bachelor pad.  Well....there's a little more to the letter story....and WAY more letters....121 to be exact.  Every day from February 28 to June 29, 2007 Paul wrote and mailed a handwritten letter while he was in Madison and I was in Portland. Yes, you heard it right....EVERY SINGLE DAY.  He filled me in on how his job was going...new things he was discovering in the neighborhood, and descriptions of his new favorite trees or what was blooming in the yard. There were love notes, words of encouragement, reflections, and just silly ramblings....whatever suited him that particular day.

Those were full and sometimes difficult days for me. I was busy with a full time job as a high school special education teacher,  packing up the house, single parenting our son, and dealing with more snow in March than I could ever remember. And yes, even a flooded basement.  It was all pretty daunting and the letters were often the bright spot in my day.  They were a piece of Paul's heart and a glimpse into the new life ahead for us....and they kept coming.

Sometimes they piled up for days because I just didn't have time to read them....or I was too grumpy to even open them. At those times I wanted help....not a letter. At one point I put several of them in the recycling and woke up in the middle of the night and frantically rescued them.  How could I even consider throwing them away!

I still have them all....or at least I think they're all there....the sweet and thoughtful letters from Paul.