4.5 Spoken in words

There is a famous poem by a Russian poet Sergey Yesenin, with the often-quoted line: "О любви в словах не говорят" – “Love is not spoken in words”. But obviously, it is. And if not for the words, pages and pages of them, finding their way across Europe in the tumult of 1940s, the world would have been one love poorer. At least two people – the son and granddaughter of Chris Baker and his dear Bessie – owe their birth to those words, which survived 75 years to resonate with hearts again.
It’s a great pity, though, that most of Bessie’s early letters were lost. Apparently she was responsible for the initial spark; there was something in her turn of phrase that kept Chris yearning for more. Or perhaps we wouldn’t conceive it anyway; perhaps she sounded special for him only. You might want to google their photos, and as for Chris, I’d never imagine that a man of his looks could be so passionate. Visualizing Benedict Cumberbatch was much more helpful :))
I think that is the most important lesson of this program: how deceptive appearances may be. It looks like Bessie, at her 30, had never had a serious affair before. Who knows why she had not been lucky in love, but with Chris, who did not see her face, she could fancy herself as well as he fancied her. It was not pretence, not at all, but a refining experience for both of them. “Everything in letters appears larger than life…” Should we believe in destiny here? Were the two souls meant for each other? Would they make each other out in ordinary life? Or nothing might have happened if circumstances did not force Chris and Bessie to develop, disclose, discover their own hearts.