I read the comments after the Korean War Veteran finally got his letters. The story itself was amazing, and so were the comments. It brought back memories. Memories that start with the lightest envelopes, crinkliest paper, Schaefer Ink Pens, and, of course, Mom's and girlfriends.
So first, the paper.
I loved Air Mail paper. It crinkled. For some reason I loved the texture. And the envelope was just as light, and crinkled. Some times you could get both the envelope and the paper as one piece. Write your letter and it folds right into an envelope.
And back then, most of us wrote with fancy ink pens that you put the ink cartridge into. And that used to smudge a lot - at least when I wrote My girl and my Mom, their letters were always perfect penmanship.
I sent a lot of letters. To my Mom, I wrote once a month. To my Girl, well, depending if we were in the Field, or in Garrison, she might get 10 or 12 a month. As you have probably noticed by my Posts, I tend to be a fairly prolific writer.
When she wrote me, somehow (probably at a very expensive Stationery Store- remember those?)she found purple crinkly Air Mail Paper and envelopes. And her red lipstick when she kissed the seal on the back....made my day. Every letter ...sealed with a kiss.
I kept all her letters, and when I went home, I sent them in a big box, since I had no room in my duffle bag. They never made it. Lost them all. But, she had all the ones I wrote her. Until....
About a year after we broke up, she brought a bunch of things I had gotten her over the years to my Mom's house. Apparently her new Beau didn't want any of my stuff hanging around. Three months later, and she brought another much smaller box, with the things I gave her that she felt the strongest connection too. A necklace she wore for a decade, my old engagement ring to her, a stuffed doll, and her three favorite pictures of the two of us. She told my Mom, that since she was marrying this guy ...he wanted everything from her former Fiancee...gone.
When I got home from work and Mom told me what she had dropped off, and I looked through that box. I had a good cry. Then I called her to thank her, wish her luck in her upcoming marriage...and what about the letters I wrote her, could I have those as a keepsake?
There was dead silence. She started to cry.
"He burned them all."
I didn't say anything. Some folks want to erase the past. I get it. And that was that last time I spoke with her...until that time 25 years later when Kathy wanted to meet her. And I posted about how hilarious that was...as the two women talked about me like I wasn't there. I had to keep telling them: "Hey, I am right here!" ...and they would laugh and continue to talk about me.
So then, about five years after my old girl got married...doggone if I didn't get a purple air Mail Letter...sealed with a kiss! It was from her.
My heart skipped a beat. I still hadn't met my Kathy yet, and a brief hope of rekindling an old romance raced up the steps from the basement of my heart with soft memories acting as steps.
I thought maybe she got divorced, Or had her first baby. Maybe she just wanted to chat again, since we were friends first, before the love stuff started. Then I looked at the postmark. Sigh.
It turned out that letter was almost eight years old. And somehow, it found me. I should have kept it. I read it like two dozen times...and marveled at how much we loved each other....at that time. And now? Not a word. It was an example of the simple kinds of strong emotions that a 17 year old girl expressed to her 19 year old Fiancee. Lots of: "Love you, Miss you, Wish you were here, and : "God I want to hold you ...and be held by you." Sentences.
I kept it for a while. And then thought I should move on. So I had a little ceremony and burnt the letter, and the first school picture that she ever game me (I was in Sixth Grade at the time, she was in Fourth grade). I had kept that in my wallet for a decade. So I put them both in a metal bowl, and burned them. I had read an article that said that was a good way to let your feelings go. So that's what I did.
A few years later...I met my Kathy...and we had telephones! So not as many letters. I would just call. So would she. And then the memories all became around hanging up. "You hang up." "No, you hang up first." And that game, along with a couple dozen : "I love you's" would extend the phone calls until we just got to tired to talk, and had to go to sleep.
And so it went. From Air Mail, to Phone bills.
And both sealed with a kiss.