Month: December 2014

Letter Writing

Since my Dad died we have received many condolence letters and cards. It is hard to overstate how comforting these are.

They have inspired me to write letters. One of my favorite books is The Gift of a Letter by Alexandra Stoddard. I like it because it inspires me. Reading it feels warm and comfortable like sitting by the fire wrapped in a blanket.

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Letters may seem old fashioned but there is permanence about them. I always save letters from friends. It is a real joy to open an old letter and connect with my friend again.

Stoddard says:

“A world of difference separates a phone call from a letter. The phone is a utility–a convenience like a refrigerator or a washing machine, A letter is a gift. It can turn a private moment into an exalted experience.”

She suggests:

“Sit by a crackling fire and read some of your favorite letters. While sitting there soaking up all the love and support, think of one person you love and write a beautiful, loving letter to that person. Let the flame in the hearth warm your heart. One letter in a lifetime to a mother, a daughter or a special friend could make a greater difference than you dare believe.”

I have not always been good about letter writing. Even thank you notes sometimes don’t get written. But like so many things I can always start again and decide to be a letter writer.

Stoddard suggests that one write with a fountain pen and collect pretty stamps to use. This I have done. I put a Harry Potter stamp on a grandchild’s letter or a Judy Garland stamp on a letter to my daughter. It is is a joy to sit down and think about the person I am writing to. My letter becomes a conversation with that person.

I use old postcards and notes from friends as bookmarks. Recently I reread a friend’s note that I found in one of my books. It made me smile and remember how much I like and admire her. We haven’t talked in a while. I think I will go write her a letter.

Millard Fillmore – Biography of a President by Robert J. Rayback

One of my most strongly held beliefs is that if you commit to something and keep working towards it then eventually you will achieve it. More than seven years ago I decided I wanted to read a biography of each American president. I created an index listing each book I had read. Now each time I read a new presidential biography I write a blog post about it and add it to my summary list.   For over a year I have been bogged down on Millard Fillmore. I finally finished his biography last week. Even though it took a long time to cross another president off my list I am making progress.

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Millard Fillmore was our 13th President. He was John Taylor’s Vice President and became President when Taylor died  on  July 9, 1850, less than six months after taking office. In my blog post about Zachary Taylor’s biography I commented that Fillmore is often on lists of worst Presidents. I must say that after reading Raybacks’s biography of Fillmore I would not rate him as a bad President.

More than anything he wanted to preserve the union and avoid a civil war. The compromise that he helped put in place brought the country back from the brink of civil war in 1850. The choice between the horrific institution of slavery and the equally horrific human cost of the civil war, was an awful choice. I don’t know where I would have stood.

In any case Millard Fillmore as portrayed by Robert Rayback is an interesting man who I couldn’t help but like and admire.

My biggest complaint about the book is the same as I have had about other presidential biographies. There is almost no discussion of Fillmore’s private life, his wife, or his children.  Rayback intentionally used the Fillmore biography as a vehicle to tell the story of the end of the Whig party and the birth of the Republican party. Rayback says in his introduction that “Curiosity about the Whig party, rather than admiration for Fillmore” started him on the research that led to this book. In fact Fillmore’s enemies worked to trash his memory and his legacy. All that people knew about him for many years was from a book written ten years after his death by his bitterest political enemy.

The first paragraph of Rayback’s introduction sum’s up well my experience learning about Fillmore.

Rayback says:

“As I began my research for this book, I expected to find that Millard Fillmore was a weak and pompous President, for tradition had painted that portrait of him. When, instead, my investigations revealed that he possessed extraordinary strength of character and an enviable tenacity of purpose — as well as an admirable personality — I was startled.”

Fillmore was a self made man who had a clear set of personal principals that he followed with unswerving focus. He preferred to avoid a fight but he stood up for what he believed in. I couldn’t help but like and admire him.