The Ugly Stamp of Love

 In the early 1900s a woman received a letter from her fiancée. What caught Abigail’s attention and that of her friend, Martha, was the ugly stamp on the envelope.

“Look at that ugly stamp!” Martha exclaimed. “It seems to be haphazardly done. It has smear all over it.”

“This is a strange stamp.” Abigail agreed.

“Is your fiancée that poor? Can’t he afford a decent stamp?”

“Well, maybe this is the only stamp available. Matthew would surely buy the better one if there is one.”  Abigail’s loyally defended her fiancée. “I’m sure he will find another stamp for his next letter.”

Martha was skeptical but kept her silence.

A few days later, Abigail received another letter from Matthew with a stamp identical to the previous one.

“What a man! Either Matthew was inconsiderate or he is not in love with you anymore.” Martha declared.

“You are wrong!” Martha interjected. “His letter was full of love despite of the stamp.”

“But the point is, if he really loves you, he will find a way to offer you the best even if it’s only a stamp.”

Abigail was silent. Martha has a point. Matthew should have chosen another stamp. But Martha thought that maybe Matthew had a legitimate reason in using the stamps. So Abigail waited for the next letter.

But the next letter bore the same kind of stamp and the other letters that Matthew sent every few other days.

Martha was more skeptical about Matthew, but Abigail had resigned to the fact that maybe those are the only stamps available in the remote town near the work site of Matthew. But she treasured the letters and adored the sender.

Then one day, a group of men came and asked to speak with Abigail in private.

Martha, in deference to the strangers’ wishes, kept her distance. Then she noticed that Abigail showed Matthew’s letters to the strangers and after a while the strangers gave Abigail a bundle of money.

“Wow, that’s a lot of money! Why are they giving her money?” Martha asked herself.

When the strangers left, Martha went to a happy Abigail.

“What happened? Why did they give you a lot of money?”

“Well, there was an error in printing some stamp, so it was stopped and a new set was produced. But the flawed stamped mistakenly sent with the good ones.”

“is it the same stamp that Matthew used?”

“Yes. In fact Matthew bought all of those stamps.”

“So, who are those persons?”

“They are stamp collectors.” Abigail beamed. “They bought those stamps at a considerable amount. Now, Matthew and I have more than enough money for a wedding.”

“Wow, you are lucky. Who knows that indeed they were precious stamp?”

“No, they were not precious stamps.” Abigail interjected.

Martha was dumbfounded. Abigail’s response was unexpected.

“They were ugly and cheap stamps.” Abigail continued. “But my love made them precious.

“If I have listened to you, I would have thrown them away. But my love for Matthew made me kept them. You see, love put a premium on things beautiful or otherwise.”

A month later, Abigail and Matthew were married and had a happy married life.

~ o ~ o ~ o ~ o ~

Marjonnel