Wednesday, June 27, 2012

My Grandpa's love letters

Since my grandpa passed away my family has been doing a lot of reminiscing. We've laughed and cried over so many of our favorite memories, which I feel is an important part of the grieving and healing process. One of my favorite discoveries over the past few days is the stack of love letters that my grandparents exchanged while my grandpa was in the Navy during World War II. These letters are treasures!
Every single letter that my grandpa wrote to my grandma starts off My Dearest Darling. How romantic is that? I can't imagine having to wait weeks for a letter from the person I loved most.

My grandparents were high school sweethearts. My grandpa was drafted by the Navy and left a week after their high school graduation for the war. His ship was the U.S.S. Caswell and he traveled around the world 3 times. His ship was the first ship to land after the atomic bomb Hiroshima went off in Japan. I also learned that this picture was the picture my grandpa carried in his wallet of my grandma during the war. There was no Skype, no telephone calls only letters and a small picture to remind you of home. He brought this picture home with him safe and sound a few years later.
My grandpa with my grandma on one of his leaves from the Navy
I have loved learning new things about my grandpa these last few days. Things about his time during the war, things about his life as a young boy and his accomplishments as a young man. What a wonderful man he was!

25 comments:

Alyssa said...

What amazing memories he has left for you. <3

Amanda Schroeder said...

This was absolutely precious. What a fabulous memory. I would treasure those letters forever. Thank you for sharing.

♥ xoxo.
Amanda at: we & serendipity

Kira said...

Those letters are so sweet, I'm so glad you and your family have them!

Natalie said...

I love getting to read old love letters! We have some from various generation still kept in storage, and they're so sweet =)

Janell Happ said...

I am very very sorry to hear about your family's loss. I am keeping you in my thoughts. I'm glad you happened upon those letters and you are so lucky to have them. I've heard of many scenarios where grandparents kept letters from each other only to throw them away before passing as they were for their eyes only

courtney said...

this is so sweet.. what a beautiful love story!

Lauren said...

What a sweet recognition of your grandparents' love!

Sarah said...

Oh my goodness, how sweet! What great memories!

Kristin said...

Wow! What a treasure, and sweet love story too :-). My Gram passed away a few months ago as well, and you're right, the grieving process is a long one. So wonderful to have these moments of feeling your loved one close again though! Had such a lovely visit over here on your blog today -

Jess said...

What precious memories!
I'm so glad that you & your family are able to go through them together.

Such a sweet thing :)

xo

Unknown said...

Wow what great keepsakes to have. That is such a sweet story. Your grandpa seems like a wonderful man :)

dreaming en francais said...

Wow, that's so sweet and romantic! Those letters are definitely something to treasure and pass down to later generations! xo

http://dreamingenfrancais.blogspot.com

Samantha Shepherd said...

This is so incredible! I know those letters are something that you'll always cherish. Thanks for sharing these family treasures.

Katie Price said...

Wow!! I am such a sucker for old letters & these are particularly beautiful with the stamps & stripes! I love that in our grandparent's days, handwriting was taken seriously. How cool that your grandma saved them all these years. When we cleaned out my grandparent's house after they passed away, we found volumes and volumes of handwritten journals that my grandma had written over the years. It was incredible for my mom to be able to read them so many years later. I love thinking that if my grandma had been born 60 years later she would have been a blogger like me! Same passion, different outlet :)

Katy said...

This is the sweetest! How incredible that all of those letters were saved and you can enjoy them now.

Emily said...

I am so glad that your have those letters. Enjoy learning more about him. xo

Amanda C. said...

Awww, how sweet! I love real love stories. It is so special that she saved his letters all those years.

Tricia said...

What a treasure this is to have! You are blessed with these momentos, I'm glad you appreciate them and are sharing his memory. These are the kinds of stories to share with future generations!

Sara said...

How precious! I'm so jealous of the love your grandparents shared. So sweet and wonderful. And those letters are absolutely beautiful.

Gaby said...

wow, that is such a treasure! how touching!

meme-and-he said...

these are such treasures!! I love the look of old letters, but these are even more special since they belonged to your grandpa. Don't you love reading about the lives of your grandparents before you knew them?!

Lesley Kim said...

WOW! amazing post. I love the pic of your grandfather and grandmother!! Absolutely touching

lesleykim.blogspot.com

Hollie Ann said...

I'm sorry for you loss!

That is so awesome you have those letters that is such a blessing! He sounds like he was a sweet romantic man :)

The Hopewell House said...

How sweet! What an awesome little keepsake!!

NatashaTing said...

this reminds me of my boyfriend. I can see that he likes a life like this - traveling around the world and not to be limited in job. I am a traveller at heart too, and one of my dreams is to visit everywhere on earth. but right now it is not of my ability to do so, since i'm in high school and i have one other dream to chase after, after my graduation. My boyfriend however, is older than me and has been working for 3 years. I'm wondering if I should force him to realize what he really wants to do or vice versa.

Sorry for the personal-feelings-kind-of-comment,
Natasha :)
http://picablocks.blogspot.com/