The Power of Little Love Notes

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When was the last time you wrote a little love note that made someone’s day?

When I think about this question, I have to admit something - I'm not good at writing love notes to the people I love the most.

I always say I’ll try, but before I know it, a year has passed and I haven’t written a single little note to the people who matter most to me. Despite all the practice I got back in high school writing hundreds of love notes to a certain hunky guy (who now happens to be my hubby), I struggle to settle down enough these days to write them. (I guess I’m hoping all the laundry, meals, schoolwork, and hugs and kisses show my love enough.)

Somehow when I sit down to write, all my words seem trite, and I find it difficult to express how I really feel.

(yep, even though I’m a writer)

"Maybe I'll just send a text instead, or a giffy - those are funny, right?" I think. But that doesn't always mean quite as much as a hand-written note.

Love notes are powerful - I’ve seen it first hand.

From the time I was young until the very last day of her life, my mom was surrounded by little love notes from my dad. They popped up on her mirror, coffee pot, and bedside table. I'm pretty sure I even saw some in her purse and Bible every now and then, too.

His "I love you" on a Post-It never got old to her.

And she wrote her fair share of notes as well. She was really good at writing notes to my sister and me - especially as we got older and moved away - and now, those notes are some of my most treasured memories of her.

One of my favorite notes from my mom came to me as a grown woman - it’s the one she stuffed inside my coat pocket one morning just a couple of years before she passed away.

I had called her on my way from Florida to Atlanta, telling her how I had just realized it was going to be freezing in Atlanta that day but I had misplaced my only decent coat. She quickly remembered that I had stuffed a black coat in her closet a year prior and said she would send it to me by my dad who was just about to go out the door to work and would cross my path if he left right away. In just 3 little minutes, holding a phone to her ear at the same time, my mom wrote the most beautiful little note to me and tucked it in the pocket. (It even had a Bible verse on the back.)

When I got the coat and reached my hand into the pocket later that day to find a little love note from my mom, tears came to my eyes and my heart swelled.

That coat is long lost now (again), but I still have her note and I take it out and read it on the days when I miss her most.

I saw a similar heart-swell happen with one of my kiddos on a recent Valentine's Day when I wrote a few last-minute love rhymes for a scavenger hunt. He wouldn't let me throw away those clues for quite a while, and I might have even caught him reading them a time or two, which made me smile all kinds of goofy smiles.

And as I sit here writing to you this morning, I'm remembering just how many times my cold, bitter heart has melted with a quick "I'm so sorry" or a longer "I love you so much" note from my husband.

So, even though I'm bad at it, I know the power my pencil holds, and I’m determined to write little notes for the people I love going forward, especially when Valentine’s Day rolls around, when things get busy or weird or wonky, when life gets a little mundane, or how about any old time.

Here are a few of my go-to wins: 

(I'll save you some time and leave out the losses.)

  • Short "I love you" notes left under pillows when I leave town

  • Half-page notes about big dreams on the first day of school

  • Lengthy "I'm sorry" and "I believe in you" notes when I mess up

  • Tiny "I miss you" notes in notebooks when I'm not there on a school day

  • A simple "Have fun" written on a sandwich bag in a camp lunch

  • Quick "You're so funny" or "You're the smartest" post-it notes left in a book (because my kids are way too cool the cute stuff right now)

And a few resources to help us all:

So today, whether you're up to your eyes in all the dirty laundry or have a million other things to do, or whether you're headed off to somewhere super fun with someone you love, I hope you'll keep this tip in your back pocket for the next time you're looking for a way to bring connection and togetherness to your family.

And I hope you get a love note in your lunchbox sometimes, too, mama.

What are your favorite love notes to give the ones you love?

Come chat about it in the email group - I'd love to know!

Courage, Tips, TogethernessCeleste Orrtogetherness tips1 Comment