OK, enough with the suspense. Two albums, and a bunch of letters written to my husband from friends he had made in France when he was assigned to duty in Europe. All in French, of course, which I don't read, but I do have a friend who is French. Maybe she'll graciously translate a couple of the letters.
One album was full of postal cards collected by my mother before she was married. That was a custom among young women. The art of writing seems to have disappeared what with the telephone, and now the internet. I did find one card addressed to her with her married name. All the others were addressed to Miss....
Let me give a word of warning to any of you who might be scrapbookers. DO NOT paste anything to the pages. More than half the cards were pasted, and I couldn't release them from the pages without destroying either the card or the page it was pasted to.
The other album was of cards and letters and mementos that my husband put together the first four years of our married life. He saved some cards that I designed especially for an occasion, and a couple Christmas cards that I designed and we sent out to friends and family. My mother-in-law was a very talented artist, and there was a Christmas card that she had painted just for us. A beautiful piece of work.
So many memories.
I never knew that my mother lived in so many different towns. There were cards to addresses in Canada, Oregon, Washington, Illinois, and Idaho. She was born in Illinois, but apparently went back to live, or vacation for an extended period of time when she was an adult. I knew she lived in Canada before she was married because my grandparents lived there for awhile, and my youngest aunt was born there. And I knew about Washington because I was born there. I knew about Idaho because I have some pictures in an album of her and me, labelled with a couple towns in Idaho, and I know my parents were married in Idaho. But I never knew she lived in a couple towns in Oregon.
I recognized some of the names on the postal cards. They may have been family friends who also corresponded with my mother. I really don't know enough about my family (either side), and there's no one left to ask. Please, all of you who read this, tell your kids everything you know about your family background. They'll treasure the stories in later years. Take pictures. Keep albums. Believe me, the kids will appreciate them, and so will the grandkids.
There was also a full page from a newspaper in Austin about the USO, and a picture of me and another Senior USO Hostess (chaperone). The article said that I met my husband at the USO. Not so. Where the writer got that information, I don't know. I had been a Junior Hostess, but I met my husband quite a several years after that.
Anyway, I phoned #2 and thanked him and told him how much I enjoyed having the albums. Oh, yes, and included was my diploma from high school.
I called daughter and told her to gather up the family and come see. Maybe tomorrow night, or the next night. It's difficult to get everyone together at the same time. But the albums are NOT leaving my possession. They need to come here to see. Besides, they're in a pretty fragile state to be passed around.
Sister, you'll just have to find a way to come visit. There's no way I'm going to mail those postal cards. You have to come here to see.
This is just too precious, and I'm filled with delight at #2's gift. And it is a gift.
Shalom, with a great big smile.