"I'm gonna sit right down and write myself a letter. I'm gonna write words, oh so sweet, they're gonna knock me off my feet. A lotta kisses on the bottom. I'll be glad I got 'em." (Fred E. Alhert, Joe Young 1935)

Putting pen to paper, pouring out your heart to the one you love, is a romantic expression in its sweetest form.

This month letter writing is the gesture that keeps John and Abigail Adams together during a time of great personal and political unrest.

Welcome to the February 2023 Edition ~ 1776~ Romance and The Love Letter

As "an obnoxious and disliked" member of the Second Continental Congress, John Adams found himself lonely. His friend Franklin prefers a lady's company when Adams proposes supper together. Jefferson, when faced with supporting Adams as a  member of the Declaration Committee, argues, "I'm going home. I haven't seen my wife these six months! I burn Mr. A!"

Adams: "So do I, Mr. J!" I'm only 41 years old; I still have my virility and can romp through cupid's grove with great agility!" 

This uncharacteristic admission leaves Adams vulnerable, as he writes, "Abigail, I'm very lonely. Please come to Philadelphia. Please come." 

His wife mirrors his vulnerability and loneliness. ("I live like a nun in cloister solitary, celibate; I hate it.”) She implores him to "write to me with sentimental effusion. Let me revel in romantic illusion." His sentimental effusions are a catalog of her faults  (playing at cards badly, crooked posture, reading, writing, and thinking too much), all of which he confesses are compliments, endearments, and irony and do not diminish his admiration for her. ("Do you still smell of vanilla and spring air?") Nor does it change her longing for him ("What was there, John, still is there, John! Come soon as you can to my cloister. I've forgotten the feel of your hand!"), or the love they share. ("We shall walk in Cupid's Grove together, and  we'll fondly survey that promised land.”) 

The promised land of love and togetherness sustains Abigail in times of strife. ("It appears the farm here in Braintree is failing. The chickens and the geese have all died."), and bolsters John in times of despair. ("The precious cause for which I have labored these several years has come to nothing!   Has it been any kind of a life for you? I haven't given you very much."

Abigail: "I never asked for more. I am Mrs. John Adams. That's quite a lot for one lifetime. To be married to the man who is the first in line to be hanged!"

John: "I have always been dissatisfied. I know that. But lately, I wreak of discontentment! It fills my throat, and it floods my brain. Sometimes I fear there is no longer a dream, only the discontentment.")

Abigail's response is filled with love, respect, and a wake-up call.

"John, can you really know so little about yourself? Can you think so little of me that I'd marry the man you've described? Have you forgotten what you used to say to me? Commitment Abby. There are only two creatures of value on the face of this earth, those with a commitment and those who require the commitment of others."

Their commitment to each other and the love they profess ("I am as I ever was and ever shall be, yours, yours, yours, yours, yours!") make them poetically romantic and prove the written word has the power to preserve love,  move mountains, and win wars!

~~Lori

References

Yauch, L (7 February 2017). Hello. Write To Me of Sentimental Effusion {Blog Post}. Retrieved from www.moviesandmusic.biz

Yauch, L (4 February 2018).Men of Action and Reaction. {Blog Post}. Retrieved from www.moviesandmusic.biz

Yauch, L (5 February 2022).The Empowered Colonial Woman. {Blog Post}. Retrieved from www.moviesandmusic.biz