Letters

I never thought I'd ever be glad that ships couldn't get email back when I was in the Navy. Apparently now, our boys and girls at sea can log on (in their copious spare time) and IM away to each other. Heck, I probably never would have left my stateroom.

As it was, the one thing that kept me sane was the evening letter writing to Janet. Well, not the one thing. I'd have to say her letters to me were an even greater balm during the separation. That, and of course, the goodies. Janet was smart (as I may have mentioned), and she always tossed in a packet or two of biscuits or some such as a "sacrificial offering" to my ravenous fellow squadron buddies. "Hey, Dash got another care package" was about the equivalent of yelling "Soooooooeeeeeey" down at the local hog trough. So I'd hand out the goodies, then grab the rest and high tail it to the stateroom, where I'd munch away on all the things she knew I was missing, from Akmak crackers to coffee she'd ordered from my favorite cafe in Seattle (Cafe Vivace, for the record).

Navy post having to be flown out, the actual reception of letters was beyond erratic. But I knew she was writing everyday, and that alone kept me going. Biscuit in mouth, pile of missives in my mitt, somehow it felt as if she was right there in the room.

I'd forgotten about the letters until a couple of weeks before I said goodbye to her. But poking around, there they were, all tied up with a ribbon in a bag adorned with cute Artic animals. By this point, Janet was fading in and out, but I know she heard me as I read them to her. She told my mother the evening of the first reading, "We have to finish those letters".

And so I did.

You can imagine my emotion as I picked up the first letter to read from her. I remembered how much I missed her, and she me. I paused for a bit before opening it, wondering what it would say, wondering what she had said to me in those first few days that presaged many more apart.

Much of what she wrote is between us. But I will share the first words I read:

Hey love,

I hope this gets to you in a reasonable time. Remember to use your diaphram. Practice-- preferably in front of a mirror using diaphram accents instead of tonguing. Start off w/ 4 per note and just go up and down a scale "huh huh huh huh huh"

(here she drew a little etude for me)

The thing to watch for is lip movement since it is very hard not to help things along w/ your mouth. Start off with just a minute or so as a warmup and work your way gradually up to 5 minutes. Don't do it if it makes you queasy! Strive for short fast and loud.

I love you.


To me, that means more than a thousand Hallmark sentiments. It's so Janet. She knew me, and she wanted me to practice. So I did. I also ate all the snacks. And this week, I'm practicing flute again, for the first time in years. All that harp playing has really played havok with my ability to remember to breathe. But that takes me back to our first lessons together, which isn't a bad thing.

And I'm practicing those diaphram exercises, too. So far, I haven't gotten too queasy.