Ordinary Life Illuminated

By MelissaTabeek

Valentine's Day Letter from 1989

I found this letter in Souk al-Ahad in Beirut. It is a lost love letter written for Valentine's Day in 1989. The writer is a man named Michel Saikalis and it is penned to Lara Karam, in Beirut. In the letter, he, a university student in Paris, apologizes for not writing more often. He says in French and in English, I love you, I love you, I love you. At the end of the letter he writes, "Happy Valentine. so soon!! not soon when you'll receive this letter (ha! ha! ha!). I love you, honey." 

It is bittersweet to think how people used to communicate so much more thoughtfully and purposefully. With today's technology, communication is often quick and mindless, full of typos and lacking genuine thought. As long as there is a post office, I will always be sending letters. 

I found the man who wrote this, and will be sending this back to him upon my return to the United States. I found it and paid for it, but after all, it is not mine to keep. They'll always have Paris. Happy Valentine's Day weekend. 

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