i hope you’re as optimistic about this one as i am.’
‘you see, the year is barely born and yet you’ve had it for one whole day.
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Category Archives: letters
‘but i’ll just stay right here and remember.’
on sunday morning, i sat down and worked on transcribing more of my grandmother’s letters, an on-and-off project of mine for the past few years. i happened to mention this to my mother, who noted that the day (august 21) marked (what would have been) my grandmother’s 90th birthday. how serendipitous!
every time i carve out time to work on these, i am (once again) struck by how fabulous my family is (and how lucky i am to be related to them; even the ones who died when i was young or before i was born). to have been raised by parents who love each other who were raised by parents who loved each other who were raised by parents who loved each other. not everyone can be so lucky.
‘i hope your bit of sky is as blue as mine’
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‘i stopped shaking as soon as i got there’
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on writing and typing
last night, i finished transcribing the first portion of my grandma’s letters — august 4, 1946 through december 31, 1946. a letter a day, every day but one, sent to my grandpa, who was stationed in china as a doctor with the u.s. navy. typed: 119 pages, single spaced. remaining: seven more months.
as i have mentioned previously, i continue to be amazed by the similarities of thought & mind between a 25-year-old in 1946 and a oh-my-gosh-i’m going-to-be-25-years-old-this-year in 2011. furthermore, i am so pleased to be granted such insight into my thoughtful, witty, well-written, and beautiful grandmother — 15 years after her death & 65 years after pen met paper.
my grandma in 1946, age 25.
‘you have a remarkable knack for describing things so I can sort of see them through your eyes’
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(when flowers grow from concrete)
“i held the watch + chain + apologized for asking what you were thinking for it was none of my business + all you said was ‘isn’t it?'”
‘we have been together + will be again’
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‘do you ever wonder what the rest of our life will be like?’
‘nothing but the beautiful night and memories of you’
[i have reembarked on transcribing the letters my grandmother wrote to my grandfather when he was stationed in china in the 1940s. i am continually struck by the resemblance of thoughts, words, and feelings of a twenty-something of that era with those of a twenty-something of this era. though my grandmother died when i was ten, i am still able to get to know her. for that i am endlessly grateful.]
