I've still got his letter tucked away somewhere. A lost love, a brief affair, a boy who took my heart and twisted it, one long hot summer, not unlike this one, but a lifetime ago. He bothered to put pen to paper, his cursive writing, fluid and expressive, just like him. His hand has touched this now thinning paper, and when I read it I remember the touch of that hand. Words crossed out, love never runs smoothly, declarations of a passionate yet ultimately tragic time.
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Sure beats a text. I know I'm GR8. Thx. Smiley face. Happy Valentine's Day.
When Lisa Mukti Petheram installed the Love Box, on the edge of a bicycle path in the inner north, in August of 2016, she was hoping that people would use it as a way of expressing their appreciation of each other.
"The main reason I put it up was because I like the idea of people writing to, and reminding, each other of their magnificence, even if they are strangers." Ms Petheram said.
"I hope in some small way this can help some people feel more appreciated, loved and connected."
She says there is a steady stream of love letters through the Love Box, people leave them, people take them. There have been letters to grandmothers, to Rod Stewart, to housemates, to strangers.
"My favourite was a love letter someone wrote to their succulent which they accidentally killed."
The Love Box had its origins in a correspondence which began through a book in the nearby Little Library, a mini-bar fridge filled with books which people of the neighbourhood can borrow.
"In the library there was a secret book of secrets, a box disguised as a book, and people could unburden themselves of their secrets," Ms Petheram said.
"It was interesting seeing what people would write in there. One day someone wrote a love letter and then it evolved into this thing where people responded to the love letter.
"I thought wouldn't it be nice if there was a designated spot for people to write and receive love letters."
Talking to her friends she found that people actually found great pleasure in writing and receiving love letters.
"We're all romantics at heart. You have to believe in love."
Ms Petheram laughed when a friend once asked her if the Love Box was "a hippy version of Tinder".
"I'd love to know if people had actually met through the Love Box. That would be perfect."
In the meantime, we can all continue to search for the answer to the ultimate question of life, the universe and everything by posting a letter to No 42.
"I truly believe that answer is love," says Ms Petheram.
