today i am grateful for...
this email popping into my inbox from my husband. i clicked to this link and couldn't stop crying by the end.
one of the most romantic letters i have ever read. or heard read aloud, for that matter. my husband devours any book or media involving the civil war. he was a history major, after all. i'm so glad he passed this dear gem on to me.
what a beautifully brave and noble man, mr. sullivan ballou. and how lucky was his wife sarah, to have been loved so sincerely by him? i want to find more love letters like this. if you know of any sources, please share!
10 comments:
tears! :(
how beautifully romantic!
Gave me shivers...
Oh you! Making me cry on a Monday morning! That was so beautiful. Thanks for sharing.
so wonderful! what ever happened to men like that!? you may have caught one of the last of them- and don't you think ed looks a little like ballou in that still of the video!??
This website has a bunch of civil war love letters. I just have to think that hopefully there are still people out there like Ballou who love so deeply.
http://spec.lib.vt.edu/cwlove/
Oh heavens....it makes me so ashamed to read things like this. To see the sacrifices that were made so readily...and then here I am with all the modern conveniences and a stable home life yet complaint jumping so quickly to my lips over the most trivial of things.
Thank you. I can't wait to show my husband when he gets home...he would be a Sullivan if found in the same situation...I, on the other hand, would be a selfish wreck begging him not to go. I hope I can live up to the example shown by our forefathers and mothers.
this is one of my favorites...short and beautiful...from abigail adams to john adams:
My Dearest Friend,
...should I draw you the picture of my heart it would be what I hope you would still love though it contained nothing new. The early possession you obtained there, and the absolute power you have obtained over it, leaves not the smallest space unoccupied.
I look back to the early days of our acquaintance and friendship as to the days of love and innocence, and, with an indescribable pleasure, I have seen near a score of years roll over our heads with an affection heightened and improved by time, nor have the dreary years of absence in the smallest degree effaced from my mind the image of the dear untitled man to whom I gave my heart.
Abigail Adams to John Adams, her husband. He became the second president of the United States. Written December 23, 1782
Have you 'listened' to the Sullivan Ballou letter yet? The letter was made famous by the Ken Burns' series, The Civil War. Historian David McCullough reads the letter to the beautiful song, Ashokan Farewell. I have the song on my iPod and listen to it all the time. You can hear it here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J3F5RT0_K5M&feature=player_embedded
eleventryst: i have! actually the first image in this post is the video snippet from the series.
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