“And there’s a card,” Jim says, “because Christmas is the time to tell people how you feel.”

If you haven’t seen The Office, it probably seems a little strange to deem it a romantic show. After all, Michael Scott, that’s what she said jokes and all, is the fearless leader, not to mention the show is about selling paper in Scranton. However, there’s a sweetness there, something that you can’t quite point out right away, that makes the show unique.

The character development, especially of Pam and Jim, is my favorite part of the show. This side of it, the softer side, is what makes the show so compelling. You get to watch the evolution of these two people over nine years- as they become such good friends, eventually fall in love, and then commit to becoming husband and wife. You watch Pam struggle with a failing engagement, and Jim falling in love with her. You find yourself rooting for the couple that has never been on a date--the couple that was founded on pranks and laughing and the little candy dispenser that sits atop Pam’s reception desk--though I don’t think Jim ever went for the candy.

This--they were the reason I fell in love with the show, and they are what makes me rewatch episodes that I can say all of the lines to. It’s their undeniable chemistry, and the simplicity of their relationship that keeps viewers coming back. They make it seem like love, and life--doesn’t always have to be so hard.

Of course their story has it’s twists and turns, which brings me to the real reason for this article. The card. In the Christmas episode of the second season, Jim has Pam for Secret Santa, and he buys her a tea kettle in which he puts mementos of their friendship over the years. Also in the box is a card, “because Christmas is the time to tell people how you feel.” Halfway through the episode, though, Jim slides the card out of the box and keeps it for himself. We don’t see it again until one of the last episodes of the series, when he makes a video for her chronicling their time on The Office, and comes in at the end, card in hand.

I wanted to know what was in the card. This is perhaps, the only lingering question I had in my mind after finishing the series.

So, with the sappiest week of the year ahead of us, I sat down to try to write a version of the card. I re-watched the most pertinent episodes, I thought about their relationship and all of the things leading up to it, and I thought about what Jim Halpert might write to the one woman he truly loves. I, as I am sure are many of you, was very curious about what it could possibly say, and I wanted some closure around that. I wanted to know.

But after sitting here, staring at a blank computer screen and wondering what to write, I realized that perhaps I shouldn’t write the letter. Don’t get me wrong--I could have written something, but I feel that nothing I could write could possibly encompass everything that the show means to me, and everything that Jim and Pam embody. I don’t think the letter was ever meant to be written, because then the show leaves nothing to the imagination. We want Pam and Jim to be a real couple, which means we have to let them have this secret to hold onto, and we can be left to ponder what he might have said. The letter is more special if we don’t know what is in it. It gives it a certain sense that it is sacred and pertinent to their relationship.

And then I found this-

So in the spirit of Valentine’s Day, I am leaving the letter to yours--and my imagination.

And on another note--maybe Valentine's Day and this very commercially sappy time of year isn't really about big gestures at all. Jim Halpert teaches us that it's the thought that counts. This week, instead of thinking about flowers and chocolate, and things--think about the people who you see everyday--the ones who make you smile and laugh and help you get through life without asking for anything in return. Tell them thank you.

Perhaps you can write your own card.

Here’s to hoping that everyone finds their own Jim Halpert someday.

Happy sapweek!