love of letters

I had a friend in those long ago rugby days who was strong and noble yet quiet and shy. He was a great athlete and loved and respected by all. But in all the days we played I don’t recall him having a girl.

He joined the Navy, an officer, and shipped off to the sea and traveled the world. Before cell phones, and skype – using pen and paper was how we heard from him.

The sister of a friend began to write him, and they corresponded by mail, letters that went from ship to base to the states to home. As they wrote over those years, he opened up to her in a way that he had never done before. Through the long slow correspondence, she came know to the fine honorable man he was. Over time, in the gentlest of ways, they fell in love. When his tour was over, they were married.

This is the most romantic true story I have ever known, and how I envy him his words. For quiet and shy, what a poet he must have been.

May you find your poetry and share it.