The Letter

Since my family moved around so much, I have very little in the way of pictures or letters of my ancestors.  What I do have is so very precious to me.

My mother never met her paternal grandmother, and only had one photograph of her.  Her grandmother had passed away from pneumonia leaving very young children to be raised by others, among them my grandfather.  During my nightly ancestry hunt, and using social media, I was able to connect with a extended family member.  We shared, compared and delighted each other with stories and snippets of information.  I shared the only picture I had of my beautiful, young great-grandmother and in return she sent me a letter, written in 1905 by my great-grandmother to her mother.  It was only two pages, but gave such a wonderful glimpse into her life, from the price of corn to a discussion of making vinegar pie.  She talked of her health, of having good water to drink, to worries regarding her parents.  She described staying with her grandmother and what a wonderful house her grandmother had, the upstairs and downstairs being sealed.

My mother was so excited when I shared the letter with her.  The fact that she was in intensive care, did not seem to register.  She had always wondered about her grandmother, knew so very little about her, such a small thing as a two page letter brought joy and tears to her eyes. Even if I only have mom for six months more, I have now have another memory to hold onto. This simple, two page letter, written in 1905, is priceless.