Letter writing is a lost art. Phone calls and, to a great extent, email have almost completely obliterated old fashioned "stick a stamp on them" letters. It is a shame, and yet I can completely understand.

There is no instant gratification with a mailed letter. It takes days (sometimes weeks) to get to the recipient and by the time it arrives, any news is old news. Well, this gal will take news any way she can get it from her sweetie and that is the truth!

Since G's departure I have literally lived for the mail to come each morning and he hasn't even been gone a week yet. It was like this when he did a rotation to Kuwait back in 2000. There is nothing nearly as thrilling as the sensation I get when I see a plain white envelope with his handwriting on it.

I want to savor the moment, but more often than not, I find myself ripping open the outside to get to the words inside. Honestly, neither G nor I are good letter writers. It is truly a lost art, in my opinion. We do, however, manage to convey our love for each other both in our words and between the lines. Just by taking the time to put thoughts on paper we are celebrating our relationship. I truly live for those letters when he is gone.

Well, yesterday was the first letter and I actually slept with it next to me. I am such a sap! I treasure the letters this time more than usual because I know that they will be infrequent, short, and mainly filled with his need for food. I can handle that if I know he is thinking of me enough to send me word of some sort.

We are almost through the first week. I think I can, I think I can, I think I can...being apart is hard.