It’s no secret that I love letters. Writing them and receiving them, I’m all for it. I could easily spend hours in a store looking for the perfect stationery set. Writing out a personal letter encourages the writer to sit down and think carefully about what they really want to say. It isn’t full of condensed sentiments or abbreviations. ("Omg lol! :)") Handwritten letters still have an alluring sense of romance and mystery. What will the contents of the envelope reveal?
To spread the letter love, we're taking a peek at letters written by famous figures throughout history. Since July 24th was Zelda Fitzgerald’s birthday, it seems fitting to begin with a letter exchanged between the infamous golden couple of the Jazz Age. The Fitzgeralds, whose name alone evokes wild parties, champagne and flappers, may have had a tempestuous history but their devotion to each other is memorialized forever in their love letters.
February 1919 (To Scott, From Zelda)
Darling Heart, our fairy tale is almost ended, and we’re going to marry and live happily ever afterward just like the princess in her tower who worried you so much – and made me so very cross by her constant recurrence – I’m so sorry for all the times I’ve been mean and hateful – for all the miserable minutes I’ve caused you when we could have been so happy. You deserve so much – so very much – I think our life together will be like these last four days – and I do want to marry you – even if you do think I dread it – I wish you hadn’t said that – I’m not afraid of anything. To be afraid a person has either to be a coward or very great and big. I am neither. Besides, I know you can take much better care of me than I can, and I’ll always be very, very happy with you – except sometimes when we engage in our weekly debates – and even then I rather enjoy myself. I like being very calm and masterful, while you become emotional and sulky. I don’t care whether you think so or not – I do. […] Sweetheart – I miss you so. I love you so – and next time I’m going back with you – I’m absolutely nothing without you – just the doll that I should have been born. You’re a necessity and a luxury and a darling precious lover – and you’re going to be a husband to your wife.