The Agony of Romancing during the Snail Mail Times

Way back during the times before internet, email and social media, a lot of ingenuity went into composing romantic letters and ensuring that they reached the intended recipient.

Despite not caring about the broken English and the many weeks, and sometimes months, that it took for the letter to reach the intended addressee, there was lots of thrill, and love, that was packaged in these letters, as exemplified here below:

“My dearest Abigail Mueni, sweetie,
with many love in my heart,
I pick my golden pen
from the basket of love
to write you this letter.

You are my first thought
in the morning
and I hold you
in my last breathe
as I go to sleep.
I hope this letter meet you
physically healthy,
spiritually receptivated,
and emotionally adaptivated.

I am falling down
with falling in love
and I suspect that
the same love
are falling down on you too.

I just want to say how my heart
bam, bam yesterday
and was captivated big big
when I see you in the market.

I want to say to you,
you be my girlfriend.
So that you bring my life to completion.
And so that you make my life to be life.

I will dead completely
if you refuse.

Please let us meet under the mango tree
that is behind mama Shiku’s shop.
Your boyfriend in future,
Kîremende”.

The pain, tears, blood and sweat that went into compiling such a missive, as it was called then, is incomprehensible.

That envelope with the letter inside of it had to, thereafter, be carefully sealed physically after powder from some sweet smelling soap was sprinkled inside; a heart sign with an arrow piercing through it was then drawn at the back, and then sealed again with a kiss.