Letters to Love

I love all of the letters. Really, I do! I mean, it takes all twenty-six of them to convey things through words, though to be honest, Q and Z really don't get much play. But, as a writer, I really have to have a love affair with words, and that affection by nature of our language rolls over on to letters. And that doesn't even take into account the many ways letters can be depicted; illuminated letters, fonts, calligraphy.

What? Not what you expected to find on the subject of "Love Letters" on the day before Valentine's Day?

Oh. Okay. Hold on. Let me try again.

I wish I could say I was an amazing writer of love letters. I mean, I should be, right? But to be honest, hands down, in my world my husband holds the Love Letter Trophy of Excellence. I will sit and worry and fret over every single word, he'll sit down and scratch out a page worth of sentences that leave me weak in the knees.

What do you do when your husband can write love letters like that? You squirrel every single one of the away into a special box. I have close to twelve years of love letters saved. Letters on Post-It notes, letters on the backs of envelopes. Letters composed in calligraphy on rich, creamy paper. Some are dated, some aren't, some are pages long, some are just a handful of words.

But all of them make my heart trip. And all of them could have been written ten years ago or ten hours ago. We're really well matched, my husband and I. He writes the love letters, I write the dirty ones. No surprise there, right?

The only letters I don't have are those from the beginning. We are children of the internet, Mr. Greyson and I, and we met online. There are countless emails that have long since disappeared over the years, never printed out, lost to the ether as if never written.

But those, those ones are ones etched onto my heart and soul. Because without those we never would have crossed distances great and small to meet, to fall in love, to share our lives together.

So.

To my love,

February 14^th will mark our 11^th Valentine's Day spent together, our 12^th known to one another. Over the years we've faced many a challenge together and celebrated some amazing accomplishments. Day in and day out we try to show each other how much we care, how much we love one another, but we've always taken advantage of this commercialized day.

So tomorrow morning I'll make you breakfast, one of your favorites,French toast or blueberry pancakes(your pick!) and if we follow true to form you'll treat me to chicken chaccatorie or chicken Parmesan as you have for years and years now. We'll sit and the table and enjoy our special meals. We'll light the fire and make a nest of blankets in front of it. We'll snuggle and kiss and more as we indulge in our love, in each other.

Happy Valentine's Day, baby,

yours, always,

Scarlett

*****

An excerpt from Slipping Time

You'll be here soon, dear. Don't chafe so. Then we'll have a month to laze around. Don't forget the key, it's my only spare. I'll try to be home before your flight arrives, but, just in case. Semester end and all, who knows how long I'll be meeting with students trying to excuse their incomplete work.

Advice - catch a cab and come straight to my place. You'll be too wiped to sightsee. My cottage is yours...make yourself at home, take a nap, I'll wake you. I'd love to come home and find you in my bed.

I know this is the last word you'll have from me before your flight, damn the time difference, so let me remind you.

I can't wait to see you.

I can't wait to touch you.

Yours,

Tessa

Scarlett Greyson makes her home in Western NY where she toils at her keyboard from her office. She helps her husband with their mini-farm and keeps a metal fab shop on schedule. Scarlett has been writing since she learned she could create her own stories, but only recently has let her muse take off her clothes. She keeps a blog where her readers can find her procrastinating between projects.

Scarlett blogs at http://scarlettgreyson.blogspot.com

Kills time on Twitter: http://twitter.com/ScarlettGreyson

And shares her work on Smashwords: http://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/ScarlettGreyson