The Love Letter

I'm lying in bed nursing the horrible flu that I fought so desperately hard to avoid. Alas, I guess some things just aren't meant to be.... The good news is that I no longer have to fear getting it! Aside from sleeping all day, I did manage to pull myself out of bed in the middle of the afternoon and stumble down to the living room to eat chicken soup and watch a few movies on HBO. I'm not much of a TV watcher, but I sure love to watch movies. It's great to get caught up in 90 minutes of a storyline that always has a resolution (I only like happy ones). I don't like to be left hanging. Even when I watch TV series - I watch them a year or two later so that I can plow through them in a few days.

My favorite movies are romance movies - being the diehard romantic that I am (bet none of you figured that out yet did you - ha ha). I filled the past few days with "Love Actually" (twice), "While You Were Sleeping", and "What's Your Number".  I never tire of the "chance meetings", the development of a romance and my favorite part is always "that moment" when they declare their undying love to each other.  After that final or first kiss - the movie ends and you know happily ever after is on it's way because they have found their "true love".

If the odds of finding that true love weren't hard enough, I love the movies where they have to time travel to meet their love! One of my favorites was a movie entitled "The Love Letter" made by Hallmark in 1998. I haven't seen it for years, but I remember it well.

Everyone, man or woman wants to be cherished. To cherish someone according to the dictionary is "to hold or treat as dear, feel love for; to care for tenderly, to nurture; to cling fondly or inveterately to."

To be cherished is a great thing! If you cherish someone in your life today (and it doesn't have to be a lover) let them know. Last month we spent quite a while talking about "encouragement". This is the ultimate encouragement - receiving a love letter from someone. Taking the time to write a letter is a commitment in our busy, fast paced society but you will make someone's day! Think about how great it would be to get a letter like that.

To be loved unconditionally and wholeheartedly is a gift not to be taken lightly by the recipient. To love is to risk... risk rejection, risk heartbreak. We hope for the best, for the love to be returned and protected but sometimes it is not. It is taking down the carefully built wall around our hearts for someone to penetrate. When we love someone we are trusting them with our very soul. You do not always choose who you love. True love cannot be quenched with some and it cannot be sparked with others. Love is a matter of the heart - an emotional matter - not a logical matter.

While writing this blog I found a website chock full of love letters! Reading them was almost as good as watching the movies.... Check out these phrases from lovingyou.com

"I try to put this feeling into worlds, but fail miserably. This feeling of being both scared and at peace, of having both butterflies and a sense of calm, is a feeling that I have only dreamed about. As the days continue to pass, my love for you continues to grow. I never thought I had the capacity to love anybody as much as I love you right now. yet, my love for you continues to mature, growing beyond the realm of my heart. It seems that you have become the fiber of my soul, the very reason for my existence."

"You have the greatest soul, the noblest nature, the sweetest, most loving heart I have ever known, and my love and admiration for you have increased so much since we've known each other that it still amazes me. You are move wonderful and lovely in my eyes than you ever were before; and my pride and joy and gratitude that you should love me with such a perfect love are beyond all expression."

Doesn't that just make you teary-eyed? There is a reason that we cry at weddings... they are visual love letters! You should know that both of the letters above were penned by men, lest you think that only females are capable of writing such eloquent words. Men are also capable of being romantic.

So my soul food assignment today is... write that love letter! Sit down, pen in hand and write it... or if you must, type it in an email. Tell someone how they make your heart sing and your face smile. Tell them how much it means to them that you are in their life. Tell them about how empty you would feel without them and tell them why they mean so much to you! Thank them for gracing your life with their presence.

Don't be shy... go ahead and do it... you'll be richer for it and you will have brought just a little romance and heart back to this rational and logical world. And that my friends is good for the soul!