Thank you to Yahoo! Mail for sponsoring this post about staying connected. I was selected for this sponsorship by the Clever Girls Collective, which endorses Blog With Integrity, as I do.

It all started with email, and that’s the way our relationship continued. We flirted, we planned dates and even sent hugs & kisses through our college years. As time went on, though, we kind of got away from all that.

Email was used to share grocery lists, pass along info for the kids’ events and send details or to-do lists for work, websites & the house. A little less romantic than the song lyrics or poems he sent long ago, but effective nonetheless. Then, we hit rock bottom—our story looking a lot like a tragedy—until we realized the communication method that brought us together could have a part in bringing us back.

We turned to email to hash out all the things we couldn’t say in person, without a massive argument. I used it to apologize, when the words stuck in my throat. We used it to share things we couldn’t seem to get out when faced with the other’s tears. It didn’t always work—sometimes the words still hurt, no matter how they’re delivered—but I think it helped both of us learn how to communicate again.

Now, we’re back to using email in a pretty utilitarian fashion, but it’s always there, ready for a surprise ‘I love you’ or emailed kiss. I miss when there was more of that, but our lives are so full now—in many ways—that it’s easy to get caught up in the mundane. Who has time for flowers & poems when there is carpool to drive, uniforms to wash and band-aids to apply?

And, I suppose, that’s where alphabet dating comes in. We force ourselves take a break from parenting & working to reconnect. In between, we plan our out-of-the-ordinary dates (often by email!) and enjoy one another through the process too. Still, I need to remember our roots & send more fun, flirty emails just because.