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This Newsletter is the result of a conversation with my 84 year old aunt, about how her Mom read the love letters her Dad sent.
Dear Reader,
My aunt is 84, so I guess the anecdote I'm about to relate is almost a century old. I chose to make this the topic of a Short Stories Newsletter because I realise it gives a whole new perspective on something we thought we had read everything there was to read about.
Love letters.
You've heard of them being pondered over, drafted, redrafted, copied from someone else, received, laughed over, cried over, lost, kept forever, torn up ... everything. Right?
Wrong.
I know I'm going to tell you something about love letters that you haven't read before.
Here goes.
My great-aunt had been educated till Grade 7 (a lot for Indian women in those days) in the Gujarati language. She knew no English.
My great-uncle had a college education, only in English. He knew no Gujarati. Well, he could speak enough to make himself understood, but couldn't read or write the language.
During their engagement, there was no question of doing something as forward as writing letters to each other, oh no. They could only meet, chaperoned, very occasionally.
After they got married, for a while he had to go to work in another city. She was left back at home with her new mother-in-law and new father-in-law.
Before he left, her new husband bought her a dictionary, translating from English to Gujarati. She had never read anything in English before.
She'd get a letter from him, written in English.
She had no time to read it during the day, there were household duties to be done and no privacy as the bedroom was only to be entered after dark. So she'd wait till bedtime to read his letter. Love letters being private, she couldn't take anyone's help - and in any case her mother-in-law couldn't read at all. It wouldn't do for a new bride to ask her father-in-law to read to her, and besides, the contents were private, remember?
There being no electricity, she'd put the oil lamp on and sit with the letter and the dictionary. She'd have to go by the shape of the letters (of the alphabet) in his letter and match them to those in her dictionary to find out what the word was and what it meant. She had no idea of the English alphabet, so she had to search the entire dictionary to find the first matching letter, and then that entire section to find the second, third, fourth and so on. In this way, she'd decipher her husband's messages.
How long does it take to read a love letter? At least three days (nights!), if you're my great aunt!
Now - did you or did you not hear a 'new' love-letter story? Either way, let me know in the comment section below!
Thanks for listening!
By Our Authors!
Back to Reality (E) Mark resolves to get outside and interact with people to improve his writing. #2352351 by Aurora Elwood
Have an opinion on what you've read here today? Then send the Editor feedback! Find an item that you think would be perfect for showcasing here? Submit it for consideration in the newsletter! https://www.Writing.Com/go/nl_form
Thank you for the responses to "The Boys won't like it" Osirantinous
Really good newsletter, Sonali, and I agree with the comments - how is it that one is supposed to 'know' gender equality when they're kind of kept to one gender themselves. We still freak out when boys wear pink or like to read, or even do things like play the piano or gymnastics. However, I don't really think women are to fault for this, but men themselves. They're still afraid of being called gay. Man, gay is only that they fall in love with someone who is also male. Nothing else to it. I'm watching a show (Ultimate Note - am TOTALLY lost) and there's a male character there who not only does Chinese opera but is always wearing something pale pink - he looks stunning in it and nobody in the series cares. Sorry, quite the waffle, but if we want gender equality, them yes, we shouldn't care if boys play with dolls (action figures ARE dolls) or girls play with trucks (I have dolls, BJD dolls, and trucks!)
Elisa, Snowman Stik
Recently I started getting recommendations for an Instagram account called thekidlitmama. One of her short videos was a list of books for boys that work to offer additional messages on what boys can do and what thoughts/feelings are good for them to have. One example from that list is a book called Boys Don't Fry. I'm looking to include that in gifts to my nephew this year.
S🤦♂️
Interesting newsletter. Did you know pink used to be the colour for boys, not blue? And in the 1980s/1990s, a lot of wrestling male fans wore pink and black because, well, Bret Hart. But with toys, it is interesting. Lego did a study of boys and girls. There was a difference with the way they played with Lego. Not what they played with - both genders played with Lego - but the actual way they played with it. the study was very intense, but, essentially, boys played with the sets the way they were designed, and acted as narrators; girls played with sets by adapting the characters and figures and situations to themselves, acting as participants. That is very simplified, but it is the basis of the findings. What does this mean for writing? It does seem female readers get more out of first person PoV stories, and males get more out of 3rd person omniscient PoV stories. Just a little bit of scientific/ sociological trivia there for you.
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Short Stories: January 14, 2026 Issue [#13531]
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