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lost art of love letters
A written word is the choicest of relics. It is something at once more intimate
with us and more universal than any other work of art.
AUTHOR HENRY DAVID THOREAU
may have hit the nail on the head.The
intimacy of the written word cannot be
denied, and there is probably no more
intimate form of writing than the love letter.
Nothing says I love you quite like the
intrinsic value that comes through when
a pen is put to paper. There’s no right way
or wrong way to write a love letter, but
anyone who has ever received one will
tell you that there’s just something special
about them that cannot be denied.
Perhaps it’s because a love letter is the
ultimate memento. It’s a token of one’s
love, and it’s a memory that can never be
forgotten; whenever a person is in need of
a reminder of one’s feelings, he or she can
revisit past love letters.
North East author Elizabeth Way
knows firsthand the value that love
letters have. Way, the author of “Love Every
Minute of Moms” and “And I Will Love
You From Heaven,” used love letters often
years ago as it was the only way she was able
to communicate with her husband, Robert.
“I did believe that there was an ability
to get into the person better in letters than
face to face,” Way says. “There’s a freedom
in working with a piece of paper. There’s
an honesty, in my experience, you discover
yourself, and it just worked that way.”
From 1967 to 1969, Way estimates that
she and her husband wrote between 200 to
300 love letters. Robert Way had enlisted in
the U.S. Army and was then transferred to
Kaiserslautern, Germany. Letters were all the
couple had as far as communication went.
Sometimes, it would take awhile for a
letter to be received, but the anticipation was
part of the enjoyment that came hand in
hand with writing and receiving a love letter.
By Steve Orbanek and Marissa Rosenbaum
Photo courtesy of Elizabeth Way
North East author Elizabeth Way and her husband, Robert, are among couples
who exchanged lover letters. Photo by Patti Orton
“I can feel my heart singing when I think
about the daily trip down to the mailbox and
finding a letter there,” Way says.
Yet, unfortunately, Way’s experience may be
one that less and less generations experience.
Modern technologies such as word processing,
e-mail, social networking and text messaging
seemed to have ushered in a new era where the
love letter is becoming more and more obsolete.
Licensed Social Worker Jeffrey Natalie
and his practice, Family Therapy Practices of
Erie, 1934B W. 8th Street, works to counsel
married couples. Natalie acknowledges the
power of the written word, especially in the
case of relationships, but he also has fear for
future generations.
According to Natalie, communication in
general for today’s generation has changed
dramatically.
“Instant message, text messaging has really
corrupted communication.Everything we do is
arts & entertainment
in the know:
STEVE’STAKE ON LOVE LETTERS
I have be honest, I do not think
I ever realized just how important
of a role love letters have played in
my life. While I have never been the
most intuitive scribe when it comes
to writing love letters (which is ironic
considering writing happens to be my
favorite pastime … next to baseball
of course), I’ve always recognized the
value of the written word in regard to
relationships.
Even something as simple as “I
love you” on a yellow Post-it note can
do wonders to brighten a person’s
day. They say seeing is believing and
there’s no denying that when you
see those words on paper, it means
something. There’s no disputing that.
Personally, when I think of love
letters, I think of my mother’s battle
with cancer from 2003 to 2005. My
mother was being treated at Cancer
Centers of America in Chicago, IL, and
since I was still in high school, there
were many times where I could not
accompany her for her trips. This was
very difficult for me, and my mother
understood that, so she always made
a point to send me a card, usually with
a hound dog on it, every few days
that she was gone (I have some odd
obsession with hound dogs that really
cannot be explained).
The cards then, and still today,
meant the world to me. At least once
or twice a year, I find myself revisiting
the cards. It’s still hard not being able
to hear my mother say, “I love you,” but
I am so blessed to be able to at least
read those words whenever I see fit.
www.lakeerielifestyle.com February2013 Lake Erie LifeStyle 27