A compilation of love letters, journal and diary entries, as well as present day comments that combine to tell a love story and provide insight into character development, compromise and commitment in forming two people into one as God designed. The couple is the author and her husband. The letters written 44 years ago when they were in their early twenties.
We are introduced to this couple when they were single and not really on each others radar. We are able to glean info about their thoughts of marriage, partner choice, life goals, faith and many faucets of their personalities because of the extensive writing that they both engaged in. Their courtship, engagement and wedding plans ...the time which was mostly lived apart in two different countries covered only seven months but is rich with entertainment, wisdom encouragement ...tears and laughter.
The book entertains through the letters which include descriptions of life on their dairy farms in Canada and Upstate New York. The letters also show the birth and the growth of their love up until their wedding. The author has summarized her thoughts on the marriage night...without details, but with a desire to promote her convictions that sex is something to save for marriage. This is a recurring theme in the book due to the intensity of their emotions on the few occasions they were able to be in person during these seven months of their love story.
One of the main themes of the book is their deep religious faith and their beliefs based on the legalistic church they both belonged to. Through commentary that the author provides throughout the book, these beliefs are explained and commented on to compare their early belief system then, with that which they hold today...44 years later. she also, sometimes even sarcastically compares their dreams and intentions to what actually transpired throughout their 44 years together. This book is an authentic picture of these two people. Care has been taken to keep the sentence structure, and the meaning of their written words intact at the risk of revealing writing flaws and immature thinking for both of them. I, the author, originally intended this compilation as a gift of legacy to my offspring. It became clear to me during the writing of the narrative, that others might benefit from some insight we have gained in making a marriage work through the difficulties of life. Several topics are discussed through the narratives including money issues, mutual respect, communication, unrealistic expectations, sex before marriage and many others. For easy reference, these topics are included under table of contents according to chapter placement.
Diary entries round out the events happening in their lives and to a small degree in the world. Some letters contain imaginative stories, some poetry.
Early personalities are revealed...good and disappointing and the ensuing struggles to blend two people into one are revealed in a way that is not usually seem. Because this couple lived in two different countries and did most of their dating through letters, we can now look back and watch that blending. We can learn from it.
The narrations are not shy about pointing out difficulties that arose throughout the 44 years since those letters were written. Those narratives are used by the author to emphasize life lessons the couple have learned through the tragedies and joys of their life experiences and are intended to be used as tools for other couples struggling with marriage issue.
Both he and she were deeply religious people and felt free to express their honest opinions on many matters to each other. This makes for intense character study.
He was and is a story teller and there are amusing fanciful stories in some letters. There is moving poetry from both pens. These have not been reworked for improved style. Diary entries are not often corrected for sentence structure in order to maintain authenticity.
Quotes are referenced.