I’ve been doing some decluttering lately and while going through the folders labelled “personal growth and learning,” I found a letter that I wrote seven years ago, almost to the date. I had never put it in the mail. I had forgotten all about it, and finding this little handwritten piece today made me smile. Those words remind me of the true romantic I am and have always been. I wrote my first love letters in primary school, always head in the clouds, dreaming of what might be.

I decided to send the letter that I found. Granted, seven years have gone by, and Fred has passed by now. Yet, the letter’s content is still relevant to me. It mirrors my core beliefs, expectations, and hopes. Those last seven years have brought me much heartbreak, but also my husband and our children. If there is anything that resonates with you on a core level, then run with it and don’t let anyone deter you, even if that means that you are being labelled overtly and hopelessly romantic or childish or idealistic. Stick to your ideals. Like Steve Job’s said in his commencement speech: Don’t settle – if you haven’t found what you are looking for, don’t settle just yet. Keep looking. Stay hungry. Stay foolish.

I decided to send the letter as a part of my gratitude project. Right now, I am grateful for people like Fred who share their stories and inspire hope. I am thankful for sticking to my guns even at times when I felt like giving up. I am grateful for Green Shoe Studio – for people who see the magic in the ordinary and grasp opportunities without knowing where they will lead.

Dear Fred,

 
I’ve been listening to your song in an endless loop for the past few days. I love your song. It’s so full of love and hope, and each time I watch your video on YouTube, it makes me cry so hard – and I thank you for that. I thank you for helping me release and rediscover all those emotions that have been hidden inside of me for so long. On New Year’s Day 2013, I broke up with my boyfriend of five years. I knew right from the start that it wasn’t meant to last, but I needed a safe haven back then when we met. We spent a good time while it lasted and it is safe to say that we learned a lot from each other and grew a lot as people. But our relationship had to come to an end, because I believe in a love like yours, like the one you portray in the video. The one that I see shining in your eyes.

I am 30 now, and everyone told me not to break up, because I am a dreamer and that “the one” doesn’t exist, and maybe you think that too, because you belong to a different generation, and possibly your life was good because you were dedicated to one single person and didn’t question your choices as much. I am wondering and asking myself those questions, because now after eight months on my own I’ve seriously started to doubt, but your video has helped me to reconnect to my inner truth that real, heartwarming love is out there – for all of us. So I keep believing that he is out there too – the one – my one – the one that makes me say at the end of my life that spending time with him was like living the dream, but that it was actually real. And I genuinely want my husband to say that having me as his wife was so worthwhile. That’s my heart’s desire.

I don’t know you, but I love you and your wife for making me happy by sharing your story and allowing other people to take part in it – allowing us to listen to your story and song and allowing us to contemplate the true meaning of love – whatever that means to each individual.

Thank you so much for being there and showing up in my life right now – at a time when I needed a little sign of hope. 

 

Thank you so much once more, love, Linda.

 

Bless your family and the people in the recording studio.
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