Though this story would have been more appropriate for Valentine's Day, this love letter from long ago was returned a week late for that lovey-dovey deadline. Still, this sentimental stuff tugs at our little heartstrings, so we're happy to report that a stolen love letter, dumped in a garden at an empty house in Potters Bar, Hertfordshire, and picked up by police has been returned to its author, who is still alive at 98.

Thankfully, police had a lot of clues to the author and her love's identities: the 68-year-old envelope was addressed to W.J. Miller, a gunner at Aldershot Barracks, Hampshire, the author's name was Monica, and the two got engaged in Kew Gardens May 7, 1940, the day she wrote the letter. Police contacted the press to help search for Monica and Bill, and found their son, who lives in Bristol, and is happy to have the letter back in his family.

With sweet little snippets printed in BBC News like "Now my sweet, I am going to close one of the happiest days of my life and only hope it has been the same for you. Good night dearest, your loving Monica," we feel our love-letter writing skills are a little inadequate. Texting "Glad 2 b engaged 2 u xoxo :)" just doesn't have the same ring, now, does it?

Image courtesy of Moon Rhythm's Flickrstream