Saturday's Project - Grandpa's Letter...

I couldn't be more excited about this project...it turned out so much better than I hoped!  I saw this in Southern Living Magazine:

It's a picture of a an old envelope.  George, the man who's home was featured (sorry I don't have his last name, I ripped out the picture and threw the magazine away!) said, "This is one of my favorite things," of his framed envelope in his dining room.  It was addressed by George's great-grandmother to her uncle, George's namesake, in 1917.  He found the envelope tucked away in his grandfather's dresser, took it to a local printer and had it enlarged, then he framed it.

Isn't that a great idea?  Well, I thought so and since I have about a dozen letters that my grandfather wrote to my grandmother, I just had to copy George, which, as you know, is the sincerest form of flattery!  So I studied all of the envelopes I had and picked  one - it wasn't so easy!  But this is why I picked the one I did: 

1. The fingerprint on the envelope belongs to my grandma, it looks like a smudge, right below the right bottom corner of the stamp...but it's a fingerprint and it's hers...well, I don't actually know that it's hers but unless someone wants to pay for a CSI match that's what I'm going with. 

2.  The postmark is March 20, 1939.  March 20th is my mom's and her twin brother's birthday, they would have been 6 years old when this was written and their sister, Billie Beth, would have been 14 - neither here nor there, just giving you the full monty.

3.  The envelope is addressed to Mrs. Michael Zezza...my grandma.  Only I always knew her as Grandma Conners.  My grandpa changed his last name from Zezza to Conners because Italian men had a harder time finding jobs...I don't know where the name Conners came from but that's the name he and my grandma were known by for the rest of their lives...they even gave their 3 kids the last name of Conners.  Anyway, this is one of the very few things left that shows my grandma's and grandpa's real names...plus it's the name of my great-grandparents!

4.  My grandpa's handwriting was distinctive and beautiful - never sloppy.  I have dozens of letters that he wrote to me over the years and it always made me happy to go to the mailbox and find a letter addressed to me in with his artistic flourish! 

5.  A letter to my grandma from my grandpa is special enough but I love the 3 cent stamp, which has a picture of Thomas Jefferson on it and the purple color and notice, there is no zip code - zip codes didn't come into play for many more years. 

My grandma was living in Pocatello, Idaho with her 3 children at the time this was mailed.  My grandpa was living and working in Utah, as the postmark is from Murray, Utah.  The letter was filled with details of his every day life, including how he was working overtime but not getting paid for it.  He wrote about his friend Whitie and Bernell and the people who lived next to Dutch and Pete.  He wrote about his flat tire that Pete fixed for him and said he was going to see Morgan about a "line on a cabin" to live in with the family...he also wrote,

"If we get the place down in the gulch we'll have to be awfully careful about the kids."

And then he wrote this, which touched my heart, "I'll sure be glad when I can get my family all together again, I'm just like a lost soul up here and my old belly don't seem to get any better." 

He ended his letter this way:

"So till you hear from me again, a heart full of love for you and babies from your husband, Mike."  

There never was a more wonderful man on the entire planet.  I miss him and my grandma so much.  They would have been 108 and 107 years old if they were still living...and I see nothing wrong with that...for Heaven's sake, people in India live to be 115!  They left us much too soon - but they're not forgotten - and now we'll have this constant reminder of them in our family room...which seems much more like a family room than ever before. 

This cost $30 to have the envelope enlarged and the frame is a black-enameled poster frame, another $30.  But really, it's priceless.  I wanted to have this done before my parents came for Thanksgiving...as a surprise for my mom...so mom, remember to act surprised! 

Comments

[Tracy M]

What a FANTASTIC idea!!! Totally stealing this...and I love the stories you shared about them.

[Tracy M]

10 of the quilts are in Arkasas right now- waiting to hear back from them this week on a proposal. Nervous and scared, but doing it anyway. :)

[Cindy]

Wow, this is a post after my own heart. I know what you mean and nothing means more than those old memories preserved. What a beautiful memory you made, I love the framed envelope. So perfect. I hope that I can be someone that my great grandkids want to remember:)

[Rachel Carr]

Nan, what a great idea. would make great xmas gifts for My Dad and your Mom. I have saved all my letters from Granpa too, but I did a stupid thing and put them in an album( many years ago) that has that sticky paper and now can't get them off, any hint's on how to save them? I too treasure these old letters, he was such a graceful writer.