A Little Story About Ken and Darlene – 4everBound

A few weeks ago I received a call from Darlene because her husband Ken's 70th birthday was coming up.  She really had no idea what we did or what our books looked like, but her daughter had told her we could "make books out of all those letters you have saved."  So, Darlene gave us a call.

Ken and Darlene met at college when she was a freshman and he was senior. It was during his studies in graduate school that they wrote to each other multiple times per week, and Darlene saved them all.  Three shoeboxes full.  Hundreds of letters all organized by date.

shoebox of letters for 4everbound

Darlene had no idea how we were going to bind them and was concerned because many of the letters were written on small stationery, rather than full size 8.5 x 11 pieces of paper.  She also wanted to keep the envelopes with the postmarks stamps.  Imagine paying just 5 cents to mail a letter?

postmarks and stamps 1960 decade

She wanted to know what kind of adhesives or tape we would be using, how long it would take, and could we meet her deadline.  We explained how we mount smaller letters onto larger pieces of paper if there is nothing on the other side. 

letters mounted into a 4everbound custom book

For any letters that have writing on the back, we attach an extender strip of paper to the left edge of the paper, then we use that strip to bind the letter into place so that both sides of the letter remain visible.

keepsake love letters bound into a custom hardcover 4everbound book

Every letter began with Dear Darlene.   

love letter in a 4everbound custom book

 and they were in love.

save your love letters in a 4everbound book

It took us many hours of careful hand preparation to open all those letters, smooth them out, and get them mounted or extended as needed.  

Darlene chose Navy Blue with Silver foil printing and custom selected the inscription she wanted on the front of the books.  His nickname for her is "Bug".  

navy blue with silver foil 4everbound books

She added spine printing to the books so when they sit on the shelf, they can see what they are and also the date range of the letters inside.

4everBound spine printing

We helped her decide on a title for the spines of her book, a very simple Dear Darlene, which is, of course, how he started all his letters.  Typically, we have the spine match whatever is on the front cover, if spine printing is ordered, but we have no problem making custom changes for people like we did for Darlene.

4everBound custom book spine

In the end, it took five of our 1.5 inch Chronicle size books to hold all the letters and their envelopes. Here are two.

chronicle size 4everbound books with letters

Darlene presented Ken with his books on Easter, which happened to be his birthday this year.  The kids and grandkids were all around to see the books for the first time.  Even Darlene hadn't opened them yet.  She just took the box we delivered them in and wrapped it up.  Their daughter was kind enough to send us some photos and video of the happy moment.

And here are some photos, too!

opening a 4everbound book

At first, he's not quite sure what it is.

4everbound custom letter book

But then he gets it.  

4everBound keepsake letter books

The happy couple, Ken and Darlene, still married today, now have lots of letters to read and reminisce together.

This project was a labor of love for us and we are so grateful they shared photos and video with us.  We may have even had a tear or two in our eyes.  The very next day Darlene sent us an email to say thank you.  

4everbound email testimonial

If you have special memories like this, we'd love to help you create an incredible keepsake for you.  We can be reached by email, facebook messenger, text or phone and are happy to answer any questions you have!

Robyn Pomonis, Co-Founder/Owner

800-770-9308 talk or text

robyn at 4everbound dot com (I write it that way so I don't get a bunch of spam!)

or visit us on facebook and drop us a message.  Lots of reviews, videos and photos on our facebook page!

Comments

  • Dianne Leahy said:

    During quarantine we found 2 huge boxes of our love letters to each other from 1984-86 , before we were married. We both kept every one ( there are at least a thousand ). We knew we had them but until now hadn’t taken time to re read . I have now read every single card , note , letter , napkin , etc . And what a joy to fall in love a second time all over with my dear husband . Every promise he wrote he has kept all these years . Our youngest is 18 and adopted from China as a baby …. i shared some with her and she said “ i am glad Daddy set the bar so high , i will never settle for less in a husband “ !!! I told him it’s the ultimate compliment a daughter could say about her dad. I need your services for sure . I can’t decide if I should do this with the actual letters or if i should make copies and have those bound ? We hv 3 children … and a beautiful daughter in law . So i need to figure out if i need 3 copies so they all have them one day ???? Any help you can offer would be great . Also Where are you
    Located ? Thank you ! Dianne

    September 21, 2020


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