To you;

The way I thought was wrong, having not known, it was right. Here is the proof of my feelings, Don’t hate me, love me forever: — — — —

Beautiful is the world, slow is one to take advantage. Wind up the world the other way. And at the start of the turning of the earth, lie my feelings for thou.

To you
Shame on me.
I love you.

Charlie is writing to his girlfriend Beverley Dolores Berg, later better known as Chan Parker (although they never formally married). She would stick by the jazz composer through his darkest years, as his early fascination with morphine turned to an addiction to heroin that would blight his talent and his career. Charlie and Chan were also an interracial couple at a time when America was still overtly segregated.

Charlie Parker died in 1955, at the terribly young age of 34 – but leaving an extraordinary legacy of composition and professional dedication that would far outlive the man himself.

Images: Kids Music Corner; SoulWalking. Letter via FastCoDesign.

The post The Love Letters Project #13: Charlie and Chan Parker appeared first on EcoSalon.