Writing Love Letters... A Review.

Do you remember waiting for the mailman to deliver the mail, in hopes that "somebody" sent you that so-awaited letter?  A note?  A card?  A LOVE letter?

I remember those days... I remember waiting for my Dad's letters whenever he left for long trips.  I still remember letters from Singapore.  I think he was gone for 40 straight days!  Wow... can't believe my mom made it without him, raising all 4 of us!  Whew...  

And I remember waiting for letters from friends... every Summer after camp, after moving away, and especially after moving from Brazil to the US.  I craved communication in my own language.  

Until... the letters seemed to disappear.  They seemed to have been replaced by those... emails... then texts... and now Facebook messages.  Crazy, right?

But if you're anything like me, you still crave those hand-written notes.  

If you're anything like me, you still love writing and sending hand-written cards, letters, and Love notes.  That's right... LOVE notes!  And I'm not talking about letters to your "lover".  I'm talking about LOVE notes.  Notes that express how much you LOVE someone, or something done for you, or an act of kindness.  

A few months ago, I received a book called "The World Needs More Love Letters: All-in-One Stationary and Evelopes" by Hanna Brencher from the Blogging for Books program in exchange for this review.  

The idea behind this gem is to provide the "reader", an easy and all-inclusive tool to get your mind going, your ideas flowing, your inspiration and motivation ready to send that special someone a quick note.  It's a pad with 40 lined stationary papers, that when folded, it becomes its own envelope... which is also all ready to be addressed, stamped, and sent!  Just enough lines.  Just enough space.  Just enough "cuteness" to call it stationary.  

I love the idea!  

I also love the convenience!

AND... I love the inside cover suggestions and inspirations for Love Letters... such as:

 - "Put your heart on one of these pages for a teacher who has gone above and beyond to make you a better person."

- "Write down your best life lessons and tuck this letter in a favorite coffee shop for someone else to find."

- "Getting married in the morning?  Write a letter to the one who will be holding your hand at the altar and deliver it before the wedding bells ring."

And there are 37 other suggestions...  So clever!

BUT, the best part of this tool, in my humble opinion, was the opportunity I had to share this "art" of letter-writing to my children.  My 4 year-old can't read or write, yet, but she used one of these pages to draw a picture of herself and send it to her friend.  Well, she ended up drawing 3 pictures of herself and sending all of them to her friends.  I love that!  And the anticipation she had, that her friends would receive her drawing in the mail!

  

And just lately... I've been using it to write those quick notes to the people that come to mind, at random times.  Y'know... those times when someone comes to mind and you tell yourself, "I should text her/him and see how they're doing", or "Hmmm, I forgot to say hi at church.  I should call or check in on FB."  I'm taking those prompts to actually sit down and write them a little note.  It would make those contacts so much more special.  Thinking about praying for them as these notes are being sent as well.  

Overall, I enjoyed using this "book" for the first time this Summer.  And I'll continue to use it until the pages are no more... but hopefully, until then... this Love Letter writing will become a habit.  

Cute Kimono girl post-it notes NOT included...

How about you?  When was the last time you write someone a Love letter?  When was the last time someone wrote YOU a Love letter?  It doesn't need to be elaborate... just thoughtful.