I have always thought that handwritten notes and letters hold a power that cannot be duplicated in an electronic message or even a voice or text message. I like to think that every treasured handwritten note holds some of the writer themselves in it. And there is also a certain romance attached to it. Just think, the note starts with a thought in the writers head and heart and then transfers to their hand holding the pen and then onto the paper…it’s a direct link.
That became very apparent to me when my mother recently shared a letter with me that my grandmother had written to one of my mother’s brothers when he was in the service. The letter was dated January 19, 1935. My mother had been given the letter by one of my cousins, (a daughter of my uncle who received the letter.) My cousin had found the letter among my uncle’s personal things after he had died. She felt that now, after many years of her father being gone, my mom would benefit from having the letter. And my mother did, especially since she had never seen it before.
The letter starts out with:
Dear W., Well it’s going to be pretty hard to write this letter but I am going to do the best I can…..
The letter describes my mother’s little sister becoming sick and dying at home in just a few days of becoming ill. She was 5 I think, and my mother was about 7. The letter goes on for many pages to describe in detail the events of those very sad days.
I always knew my mother had lost a sister when both of them were very young, but it was just a moment in time that didn’t mean much to me. I assumed it had been a sad time, but never heard it talked about very much. They never really knew what her cause of death was, she was sick one or two days with a fever. The doctor was coming to the house to care for her, but nothing helped. And then she was gone. Probably not too unusual in those days.
My mother came from a family of 11. A large family that produced 30 plus grand kids for my grand parents. While I loved my grand parents, the grand kids did not get a lot of individual attention. There wasn’t time, but we didn’t feel neglected. It was just the way it was. So, getting to know my grandparents the way many grand kids do today, especially with smaller families, didn’t happen. However, this letter gave an insight to my grandmother that I had never known. My grandmother always seemed old to me, even though she was only in her early 70’s when she died.(Funny how that age seems younger and younger the older I get.) I had a hard time imagining her as a young mother who had lost a child.
As any parent will tell you, the thought of losing a child is almost unbearable to think about. And the worst had happened to my grandparents. Reading those pages, in my grandmother’s handwriting, connected me to her in a very special way. I could almost see her sitting at her kitchen table writing on lined note paper describing the heart break that she must have felt. I can now feel what she must of felt even more, because I have become a mother and a grandmother. How grateful I am that someone in the family saved that letter. It is a treasured handwritten note.
April is National Card and Letter Writing Month. Get out your pen and paper and gift someone you care about with a handwritten card or letter. It may just become a treasure for them.
Here are some of my favorite writing materials.
Thank you for sharing this moving part of your family history with us.
I can’t imagine we’ll have the same sense of discovery or joy over an email or text.
Like you, I am trying to keep the art of note writing alive.
Thank you for commenting, Suzanne. I always appreciate it.