My mother Wilma
Letters On Green Paper
My grandmother would have called me a "pack rat" and I would have told her "I inherited it from you"!
I love family history and I save old papers and photos. I have been trying to find a way to preserve them. Just recently I went through some boxes and found some old letters.
There were several letters from my mother to me and some from me to my mother. She was sick for a year before she passed from earth to heaven and had a lot of time to go through all her earthly treasures and distribute them to whomever she wanted to have them.
About a month before she passed I received a small package from her in the mail. Inside were many keepsakes that she had gathered over the years. There was my first "baby bootie", my "baby gloves", my "Girl Scout Badges", several letters and many other mementos.
Amazingly most of the letters were written on "green stationary" both those to me and from me. I thought that was odd, however even more odd was the content of the letters that were saved. One letter dated Jan. 17, 1972 (I was 18 years old and a young newly wed living 700 miles from my family) from me to my mother gave the details of my day and how I finally learned that cooking and cleaning can be fun! Ha, imagine that. Another was written when I was in a state of rebellion to everyone and everything.
All these letters that she had treasured all these 30+ years. In "my" box I also found a letter my mother had written to me. It started "Today your dad and I would have been married 30 years, oh love is so elusive". She went on to describe how much of herself she saw in me. It was a very touching letter.
Anyway, I've said all that to get to a certain point. As I look back over the 50 something years of my life I have come to realize some very concrete truths. We as humans when we are young don't know the very great importance and value of cherishing each and every moment we have with our loved ones.
As my parents and grandparents and aunts and uncles have slipped away like a silk scarf slipping out of my hands I find myself grabbing and trying to grasp the loved ones I still have here on this earth.
Letters On Green Paper
My grandmother would have called me a "pack rat" and I would have told her "I inherited it from you"!
I love family history and I save old papers and photos. I have been trying to find a way to preserve them. Just recently I went through some boxes and found some old letters.
There were several letters from my mother to me and some from me to my mother. She was sick for a year before she passed from earth to heaven and had a lot of time to go through all her earthly treasures and distribute them to whomever she wanted to have them.
About a month before she passed I received a small package from her in the mail. Inside were many keepsakes that she had gathered over the years. There was my first "baby bootie", my "baby gloves", my "Girl Scout Badges", several letters and many other mementos.
Amazingly most of the letters were written on "green stationary" both those to me and from me. I thought that was odd, however even more odd was the content of the letters that were saved. One letter dated Jan. 17, 1972 (I was 18 years old and a young newly wed living 700 miles from my family) from me to my mother gave the details of my day and how I finally learned that cooking and cleaning can be fun! Ha, imagine that. Another was written when I was in a state of rebellion to everyone and everything.
All these letters that she had treasured all these 30+ years. In "my" box I also found a letter my mother had written to me. It started "Today your dad and I would have been married 30 years, oh love is so elusive". She went on to describe how much of herself she saw in me. It was a very touching letter.
Anyway, I've said all that to get to a certain point. As I look back over the 50 something years of my life I have come to realize some very concrete truths. We as humans when we are young don't know the very great importance and value of cherishing each and every moment we have with our loved ones.
As my parents and grandparents and aunts and uncles have slipped away like a silk scarf slipping out of my hands I find myself grabbing and trying to grasp the loved ones I still have here on this earth.
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