As I was going through my memory box, looking for more evidence of my life in Africa… I came across a bunch of love letters that I have kept and carried with me since I was an adolescent.  Got distracted and read many of them… those words brought me back to that magic moment when I got them… images in my head, a smile on my face, and the reminder of many happy moments.  Reading some of the earlier ones, I can’t stop thinking of my own adolescent children, knowing they will also write and receive love letters… I am sure they have already.

A small fragment of one of them more than 30 years ago…

“First of all, it is very important that you never lose this letter.  Often writing is like a photograph, a record of something that is no longer there.  I see the way photographs affect you and I can only hope that writing does the same.”

30 years later those words resonate with me more than ever… reminding me of my passions and what moves me… now in the form of this blog… my words, my images…  and by the way, he did become a writer!!!

Some people will ask their partner to get rid of all of their past memories as an act of love… or they would do it on their own, knowing they have found the right one… or perhaps as an act of despair… feeling that broken heart.  Thinking about it… it almost feels like a mutilation of one’s life.  So, don’t throw away your love letters, if they did not come with a stamp, print them, as a vivid picture of that happy moment.  And as time goes by, take the time to read them again…  in appreciation of a life lived and the love felt…  Sometimes fall in love again with your own partner…  or dream with a new love to come…

Happiness does not exist, only happy moments.