Johnny Cash has been awarded with a posthumous title for the "greatest love letter of all time," because, you know, we live in an era where such things need to be ranked. Everyone knows a love song or two by the Man ink Black ("I Walk The Line" being one of the more confusing) and everybody knows about his marriage to June Carter Cash, thanks to the film with almost the exact title. Even the most cynical among us (aka your correspondent) will find a bit of relief in the form of Cash's letter to his wife, which he wrote her during 1964 for her 65th birthday (from The Boot).
Here's a clip from his note:
"We get old and get used to each other. We think alike. We read each others' minds. We know what the other wants without asking. Sometimes we irritate each other a little bit. Maybe sometimes take each other for granted. But once in awhile, like today, I meditate on it and realize how lucky I am to share my life with the greatest woman I ever met. You still fascinate and inspire me. You influence me for the better. You're the object of my desire, the #1 Earthly reason for my existence. I love you very much."
The entire history of the couple's relationship is adorable, from his proposal onstage (she and the famous Carter Family performed with Cash often) to their final moments together, when she reportedly died holding his hand 35 years later during 2003. Cash himself would pass away just four months later.
What makes the win for "greatest love letter" more impressive was that this contest was voted upon by an almost entirely British audience (organized by The Daily Mail), a group that have quite a few romantic fellows to turn to for literature. Indeed, Winston Churchill (maybe not the man we had in mind) placed second in the vote, for a letter he penned to his wife Clemmie.
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