31 Letters Literacy Project: Day 23 – “A Sunny Day”

Day 23 of our 31 Letters Literacy Project is all about SUNNY DAYS.

This letter topic is inspired by a lovely HAIKU that we bumped into on Day 23 of 365 Days of Literacy for Kids:

from FIVE HAIKU by Paul Eluard

Ah! a thousand flames, a fire,
The light, a shadow!
The sun is following me.

Who doesn’t love a sunny day?  (Well, I did talk to a cashier at the supermarket yesterday who stared outside at the giant snowflakes in March and said, dreamily,  “I wish it would stay like this.”)  Hmmmmmm.

Write a letter to your kids/grandkids/special kids in your life and tell them about a special SUNNY DAY in your life.  Remember that kids love to read all about YOU… in your own words.  Give them the gift of your legacy through literacy.  Literacy is all about words – written, spoken, felt.  Let them feel your words today.

If you’re feeling particularly inspired, write your own sunny HAIKU and send that along in your letter!

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Here is my SUNNY DAY letter to my grandchildren today:

March 23, 2011

Dear__________________,

Hi, my little darlings!  Do you like sunny days?  I sure do.  And there’s one day in particular that, I think, we all hope is a sunny one… our wedding day!

Grandpa/Pop-up and I planned to be married in August.  August is generally a hot month in New England, but that was fine with us.  We loved hot, summer days way back then just as much as we do now. My wedding dress was sleeveless, and backless for that matter, so I knew I would be comfortable in any August weather.

Speaking of my wedding dress, I still have it!  It’s hanging in our upstairs pink bedroom, in the big closet.  Each time I see that dress, I think back to the wonderful day I married your grandfather!

Actually, I’ll tell you a little about my dress.  I didn’t go to a bridal gown place to select my dress.  Instead, I picked out the pattern and the fabric at a local fabric store and took them to a seamstress who made my dress for me.  My dress had cotton lace on the collar, fabric buttons down the front and a bow that tied in back.   My wedding dress (including the sewing) cost $50.00.  Yes, I wrote $50.00.  Many bridal dresses today cost hundreds and even thousands of dollars!


I also did not have a veil.  I wore a band of white daisies in my hair and I carried a beautiful bouquet of daisies, too.  Grandpa/Pop-up wore an off-white tuxedo with a very prominent brown collar and a brown bow tie.  I’m wondering if this style will ever again be popular.  Yikes.  Probably not!


But anyway… back to the wedding day.

We were hoping for a beautiful sunny day. We wanted to get married in the morning and have the entire day to celebrate with our family and friends.  We wanted to be outside.  I love shadows, and I wanted shadows following us and us following shadows all day long!

When we made plans to be married, we wanted August 7th, but that date was taken at our church.  We settled for August 14th.

As the date rolled around, so did a hurricane!  Hurricane Belle.  From just about August 5-10, everyone up and down the East Coast had their eyes on Belle.  Had your grandfather and I planned our original August 7th wedding… well, I’m not sure what would have happened.  We had guests coming in from all over New England.  Our wedding reception was being held at a restaurant on the harbor in Warren… the Wharf Tavern.  And the wind… my dress… the flowers… the rain…

Your NanaFlo told me the magic of putting Rosary Beads outside our door.  I did.  I also prayed to my Dad, who had died just one year before, for a lovely sunny day.  I didn’t have my Dad to walk me down the aisle… so I asked him to be there shining in the sun.

Well, Hurricane Belle did pass.  Just in time. And when August 14th peeked into view, it was the sun who brought the dawn to us!  Our wedding day was a gloriously sunny, lovely, perfect summer’s day.  Not too hot.  Perfectly windy, as the remnants of what could-have-been. Lots of outside.  Lots of shadows.  And our entire families and lots of friends… many of them not with us anymore… to celebrate the sacrament, the celebration, the merriment, the dancing, the day!

It was the happiest sunny day of my life.  I married your grandfather, the love of my life… and my Dad was there, shining from above, just as I had asked him to!

L to R: Your Great-Great Aunt Alice, Great Aunt Ursula, your Great-Great Grandmother Mamie Bell and Cousin Joanie!


And my Nana was there with the biggest smile!

And your Papa Joe!

Nana Flo and Grandma Rita!

And I had my Father/Daughter dance with your Papa Joe!

What’s your most perfect SUNNY DAY?!

And, oh… there is a beautiful poem about the sun that I’d like to share with you:

from FIVE HAIKU by Paul Eluard

Ah! a thousand flames, a fire,
The light, a shadow!
The sun is following me.

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Now, I’m going to try to create a HAIKU in the 5-7-5 syllable form, about your grandfather’s and my sunny wedding day:

The dazzling dawn light
Peeked magically into view –
“I do.” “I do, too!”

Love forever and ever,

Grandma Couto

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Mail Tidbit of the Day: The first documented use of an organized service for the delivery of written documents is in Egypt, as far back as 2400 BC.  


 

 

About Audrey

Audrey McClelland has been a digital influencer since 2005. She’s a mom of 5 and shares tips on her three favorite things: parenting, fashion and beauty. She’s also a Contemporary Romance Author.

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