picture this

I've been rather wordy lately on the old blawg and am offering a respite today in the form of some incredible images I've tracked down this week. Enjoy! Thanks to all three of you who took me up on my letter writing offer! I've got my materials prepped (below) and may include a surprise (:

images from: here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, and here

20 years

Lately I've been on a political auto/biography jag - first Ted Kennedy's True Compass, then G.W.'s Decision Points, Karl Rove's Courage & Consequence and now Reagan's Presidential diaries. Amazingly, Reagan recorded the only daily Presidential diary in American history. That's nearly 3,000 entries! It's astounding to read who he met with, what he struggled with and how heavy the responsibility of leading the country was. I've always had a soft spot for Ronald Reagan - he was President when Yours Truly was born, embodied the rugged West & Old Hollywood, died of Alzheimer's like my sweet grandma and had an unshakeable love affair with his wife Nancy. Several weeks ago I came across an old letter from Reagan to Nancy on the occasion of their 20th anniversary. A picture of the letter is below but I've also transcribed it since the handwriting's a bit hard to make out. Be prepared to have your heart warmed...

"My Darling Wife,

This note is to warn you of a diabolical plot entered into by some of our so called friends (ha!), calendar makers and even our own children. These and others would have you believe we’ve been married 20 years.

20 minutes maybe – but never 20 years. In the first place it is a known fact that a human cannot sustain the high level of happiness I feel for more than a few minutes – and my happiness keeps on increasing.

I will confess to one puzzlement but I’m sure it is first some trick perpetuated by our friends – (ha again!) I can’t remember ever being without you and I know I was born more than 20 minutes ago.

Oh well – that isn’t important. The important thing is I don’t want to be without you for the next 20 years, or 40, or however many there are. I’ve gotten very used to being happy and I love you very much indeed.

Your Husband of 20 something or other."

via

Isn’t that just swoon-worthy? I love letters. They’re a tangible record of so many things – love found, love lost, adventures, sadness, growth and much more. In the past year, my mister and I have written nearly 200 letters back and forth and I honestly don’t think I’d know certain things or parts of him had we not initiated a snail mail campaign. So, I have an offer for you, dear reader. Let's keep the Postal Service in business. Leave a comment with your address or email it to me (kbarnes@spu.edu) and I will write you a letter or send you a pretty card! I’m curious to see how many people will take me up on my offer. Don’t hesitate! Even if you don’t know me well! I have some time off in the near future and what better way to fill it than with letter writing? To make it even better, I've got some Ronald Reagan stamps burning a hole in my pocket so it'll have the face of a hopelessly romantic President on it too (: