M A R C I A

Don’s various early letters to Marcia spoke to her in an intimate prose style that suggested the deep intellectual partnership they shared, and they include his early love of both philosophy and poetry.  It is little wonder why Marcia cherished each so dearly and reread them often— none more than the one written at the end of his basic training (dated August 31, 1954 and posted home to Gothenburg at 7:30 pm from Fort Bliss in Texas).

As he wrote to Marcia earlier in August of 1952, two years before they were married: “Someday after I have lived my life to the fullest extent I shall look upon this letter and realize that included within this envelope are some of the most significant words that I have ever meant or written pertaining to my life.” Such significant sentiments, found in each letter, trace their love across the inevitable separations of life. Mostly written in hotel rooms and temporary apartments in various cities in Midwest America as he traveled for collegiate basketball games, completed his PhD, or endured basic training in the military, Don’s letters to Marcia reveal a deep sense of longing for the woman he deeply loved and always missed.

Despite his claim in 1952 that “You can’t tell a girl you love her very well on paper” - he does exactly that throughout the letters that follow.

Below you will find love letters written by Don Welch from 1951 to 1962, tracing his admiration of Marcia Zorn Welch.  They were posted from places such as Fort Bliss in El Paso, Texas, the Hotel Commonwealth in Kansas City, Missouri, and Lincoln, Nebraska, but their destination was always the same: to arrive in the hands of his beloved knowing that the surest way to the heart is through the eyes.