Special project can, once and for all, be revealed. (Woo-hoo! I can hear y’all *excitedly* cheering … NOT!)
Yeah, I just have to show this off because I honestly spent a lot of man-hours on it. And well … the end result was more than I ever imagined. SO … without further ado, here is the special wedding gift I presented to my cousin this past weekend.
If you might recall in a previous post, my cousin and I were very close growing up. We wrote detailed letters of our daily life, including many of our hopes and dreams, our troubles and concerns. And in return, we would receive lots of encouragement and support. I guess you could say that we were “bloggers” about 20 years ahead of our time, as the first of our back-to-back correspondences started around 1985.
I can’t even imagine how many letters I sent to my cousin over the years. I suppose I could go back to my own special wedding gift from her, but quite frankly I’m too lazy to count. In total we must have exchanged well over two hundred letters amongst ourselves; some of them as long as 40 back-to-back, handwritten pages. And the only reason I’m guesstimating is because I must have scanned in more than 100 of her letters to me over the period of 6 weeks. That, and pictures of us growing up.
Hubby, the graphic designer, helped design the covers to the three books. Each book with a title taken from lyrics to an ’80’s song. And after doing some research, we were able to self-publish this book by uploading the pdf files to this site. I think they turned out awesome … don’t you?
Okay, so what happened when my cousin opened her gift?
Uh-huh … it was quite emotional for the two of us. But just to see the look on her face, and how happy she was? And to know that I finally fulfilled a promise we made to each other back in our youth? It was worth all the sweat and tears.
Now … bonus points for anyone that can name the title of the song and the artist for each of the three books!
ok, you are all making my eyes leaky today – first Kate, now you – I am afraid to check on everyone else. Beautiful gift, absolutely beautiful. She will treasure that always and can I just say I am glad to have you as a friend. You are such a sweet, kind and thoughtful person.
Songs – Well, I know Shine like it does and Hey, Here’s the story (I love that song and won’t be able to get rid of it) are both INXS not sure about Welcome to your life.
I’m guessing “Here’s the Story” is not the theme from the Brady Bunch?? lol What an absolutely fabulous gift!! I’m sure she will treasure it always.
I have had a penpal from New Zealand for more than 30 years. We don’t write as much as we used to, but back in the day, we used to write 50+ page opuses to each other. LONGHAND (pre-computers!). I’ve kept all of her letters & she mine, and a few years ago, she sent me one of the very first letters I wrote to her. It was like stepping back in time.
How sweet!! Emily that is soooooo cool and I can just imagine the look on your cousin’s face. Awesome. I have a million childhood letters, I should do the same before they rot away!
That is a very beautiful gift and clearly your friend was moved by this treasure. So beautiful.
That is so, so cool! What a fantastic gift, the kind you’ll truly never forget.
Kudos to you for taking the time and having the vision to make it!
omg that is soooo cool. i loved my cousin too. i am glad that you did this now. before you had to say “loved.”if ever.
your a real neat chick, you know that?
Now *I’m* leakin’! What a lovely present, Em.
That is seriously one of the coolest gifts I have ever seen.
I would have cried just like she did.
Damnit. Will you be my cousin?
Wow Emily, that is an amazing gift! Your cousin must have been so moved. I would’ve cried for sure.
My favorite gift that I gave someone was a scrapbook of pictures made for one of my best friends on her wedding day. I worked on it for a long while and she and her husband love it. I look forward to when she can share it with her boys.