Dear Ella

My dear Ella,

I am writing you in epistolary form because I have more practice writing letters than anything else. I enjoy writing letters, usually by hand, and have had several pen pals over the years, though only one now. (You remind me that I need to write my grandma, very soon, thank you.) If you’re curious as to who Ella is, well, perhaps you are. Ella is related to the German word, “all” and in my mind, the French word “she”. I write my songs to Ella, my potential future, because I am tired of writing love songs for no one. (See John Mayer’s song, Love Song for No One.)

While I am eager, ma chere, I am not impatient. I have waited a long time to meet you and will wait as long as I have to. I will always believe that you’re there, somewhere, waiting for me as well. We are both looking for a friend, a confidant, a companion, a lover: someone to play and explore the world with.

What I want from life is simple. Work with meaning; a simple, comfortable lifestyle; and someday a family. I don’t need the newest gadgets, nor expensive toys. I want my dog by my side, or in the back seat, since she won’t fit in either your lap or mine for much longer, depending on who is driving. Someday soon I’ll trade my Accord for a Forerunner or Tacoma, ideally, and have a 16’ Hobie Catamaran sailboat to pull behind it. I dream of spending weekends sailing on the lake, setting up a tent on some forgotten or rarely visited beach and sailing back on Sunday evenings. In my mid or twilight years I’d like to live above, or close to, a coffee shop/wine bar/used book store, with a dance floor off to one side so I can teach swing once a week or so. I intend to run this establishment. Hopefully this will be in addition to being a successful, published writer. That’s the dream, subject to change. In the meantime, I have a regular job.

If I were an animal, I would like to think I would be a mastiff. (Which is part of why I chose to get one.) They’re loyal, strong, loving, and affectionate dogs that enjoy exercise and play but equally love to laze about with their loved ones and get lost in a good book. Hopefully you enjoy that image as much as I did.

One of my ultimate life goals is to be a Renaissance man and on the road toward that achievement I have traveled and moved a lot in my life, both as a child and adult. I have lived in four countries, including the US, and three states. I am constantly looking up stuff I don’t know on Wikipedia and I study things that interest me, such as Positive Psychology, regardless of the fact that I graduated from college ages ago.

I am a lot of things, some of them juxtaposed against each other. I like to be clever and get along with people who laugh at my appreciation for my own cleverness. I laugh at my own jokes, because then at least one person is laughing. ;) I am serious and playful, sarcastic and sincere, confident and shy. I believe in being good for good’s own sake, loving freely regardless of what you get in return, and constant self-improvement. To really get to know me will take someone with patience, someone willing to forego labels and wait and see who I am in a variety of situations. I promise to do my best to give as good as I get.

I won’t tell you who the girl of my dreams is. I am hoping you far outshine her.

I have been around the world, and I have done a thousand things. But as one of my songs goes, “I’m tired of playing at being a tumbleweed. I want to put down roots and grow into a tree.”

I can’t wait to meet you, Ella.

Sincerely,

m0rg4n