Ireland

Ireland

Tuesday, February 7, 2012

Back in time


I received a letter yesterday from my cousin who lives on the other side of the U.S.
Actually, it's a copy.
It's handwritten.
It's 8 pages long.
8 pages, and both sides are covered with ink.

Who writes letters that are 16 pages long?
My Aunt Mary was the author of this piece of work and she wrote it to her brother, who turned out to be my Dad.

It was written on January 4th, 1945. How cool is that?
Aunt Mary wrote this letter while she was in Lexington, Mass. and she sent it to my Dad who was stationed in Hawaii during this time of the war.

The letter is an in depth detailed look at the family Christmas of 1944.
She left no stone un-turned.
She detailed who came and went, what they were wearing and what kind of mood they were in, who decorated the tree and what my Grandmother ( who I never met) was eating.
Because of her words, I could picture the excitement of Christmas morning 1944, with my Aunts and Uncles, the gifts under the tree and the exhaustion that so often comes with preparing for this special day. Some things never change.

She signs off by writing, "Love to you from one who prays for your safe return and hopes, next year, you will be here to hang the bells yourself."

Aunt Mary had a way with words.


11 comments:

Sueann said...

How wonderful to be able to experience a slice of life from 1945!! Awesome
Hugs
SUeAnn

Denise at Autumn Sky said...

That's very cool. Imagine the time that people spent to write letters and they probably took forever to be delivered. They are such a treasure and documentation of their lives.

beth said...

maybe your talent for writing came from her.....
how wonderful to have that piece of life now in your hands.

Joey said...

Ok - that may very well be the coolest thing I've ever heard. I can IMAGINE transporting back to a day in time and living it even though I don't know a soul. Like a really good book! I'd LOVE to see that!!!

Erin said...

LOVE this. I can't wait to read it!

Nancy said...

Visiting you from Phantom Kitty's blog --

What a wonderful piece of your family's history. An email just won't hold the same type of status, 40 years from now.

Formerly known as Frau said...

wow what a treasure!

Scullynne said...

Great story!Now i see where you get your talent from.

Alison said...

How lovely! (And I've been to Lexington!)

Marilyn Miller said...

What a special letter to receive just this week. Quite a treasure!

bon bon said...

that's a wonderful treasure, mark. and a reminder to write my grandma...