WHATEVER HAPPENED TO LOVE LETTERS?

If you are looking at this topic in a strange manner, then it's safe to say, you were born in the late 90s and maybe your secondary school education was later in the millennium. Or how else can we explain your ignorance of the word Love-letter? Haven't you written or received a missive of this kind:

Dearest Bolanle,

                         How are you doing? Hope yourself and every member of your family are doing fine, if so, doxology!

                       My aim of writing you this missive is to express my love for you. You are the butter in my bread, the sugar in my tea, the egg in my egg-roll, blah, blah, blah...

                       My love for you is as deep as the 5 oceans in the world poured into one, it has no size, no volume, it cannot be measured. Bolanle love, my love for you dries only when the water in all the oceans dry.

Blah...

Blah...

Blah...

                       Dream sweet dreams my love, as I must stop. Every letter, unlike every love, must end. Do not close your mind to the content of this letter. In any case, I will be forced to write again. And I shall not close my eyes until I read from you, as I know you will write.

                         Looking forward to an affirmative reply from you.

Till very soon,

Your unsuspected love,

Adewale Bambo

Pardon me if I missed some lines that are pro'ly running through your mind right now, I only wrote such letters like twice and received like five.

If you have never written or received a letter of this kind, then *LipsSealed* for you ni o. The thing is, we don't get to see these in modern day wooing. Gone are the days you deliberately give a lady a letter on Friday after school only to anticipate all weekend what your fate is with her since there was no means of communication. Approaching school on Monday morning, your heart begins to race, several questions running through your mind. What will her reply be? How did she take the revelation? Has she mentioned it to her friends? Will she report me to our class teacher? Is she going to say yes to me? Does she feel the same about me? All these and many more keep running through your mind all through the assembly ground. A mere eye contact with her sends cold shivers down your spine.

It's so sad this doesn't happen these days. As we now have everything modernized. Even the fragile feeling called LOVE has had it's own share of modernization. These days, relationships are birthed, sustained, consumed and terminated...ALL on the social network platforms, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, 2go, Y!Msgr, mobile phones, voice messages, etc. These may in their own way have advantages, but trust me, the glamour, intrigue and suspense of asking a lady out has drastically reduced. Nowadays, even the use of the word LOVE on social platforms will almost drive you crazy. You will be a learner for you to think that a tweet at you that reads “Good Morning Love @holyparcel” actually means the person who dropped the tweet has affection for you. The concept of modernization, technology and indeed social networking platforms have undermined the romantic feeling that accompanies the period of asking a lady out.

You ask a lady out during the day and before nightfall that day, you have bombarded her cell phone with a deluge of messages, tweeted at her, sent her FB messages. She on the other hand has tweeted about it (maybe in codes), called like 3 or more of her friends to inform them about the latest development and before we say Jack Robinson, the eye of the world is on you both.

Every new development has it's own advantage and disadvantage. While social networks and mobile phones afford lovers more communication, to me, it has made the process of wooing a lady less interesting.

A friend of mine once told me that there was a time herself and her landlord's son do not communicate physically, but guess what, every night, they are both locked in lengthy conversations on Y! Messenger, talking from around 9pm till the early hours of the next day. Yet in the morning, when their paths cross, they just walk by each other smiling sheepishly. I tell you, that's one of the wrongs of social networking platforms.

I also had a friend that will talk all night with her boyfriend during the time Xtracool (Free-all-night) calls started. They will talk all night from 12:30am till 4:30am. 4 good hours of only God knows what they discuss every other day of the week.

My opinion, I think I enjoy the days of love letters better. It however has it's disadvantage. Imagine seeing the letter you wrote a lady a few months ago in an awkward place. Probably on the floor in a public place or in the hands of younger ones.

As I write this post, I have a letter in my possession, written by a female coursemate of mine, pro'ly to be given to an admirer, but which she forgot in her note, a note which I borrowed and saw. I have since kept the letter, one day, just maybe one day, I'll return it to her.

Bottom line, if the lady is the care-free (careless) type, writing her a love-letter wont be a good idea, just stick with the calls and messages, at least everyone jealously guard their mobile phones.