A Treasured Letter

Postmarked 73 years ago, this letter was sent by my maternal grandmother in Virginia, known to her grandchildren as Memie, to my parents in Georgia the day after I was born. 

My mother was the third child of four that survived, and the only girl. I was the seventh of Memie's fourteen grandchildren. Her beloved husband had his first stroke in 1938 at age 47, followed by dozens more until his death in August 1946. I'm sure that the three grandsons born in 1940, 1941, and 1942, and the three granddaughters (two were twins) born in 1946 gave Bambop, as his grandchildren called him, great pleasure. (My grandmother refers to him as "Dad" in this letter, as that was his relationship to my mother.) 

My grandparents had known each other since their school days, and their love was deep, as evidenced in her heartfelt words: How proud Dad would have been over his Gal Baby's baby! How I need him to-day, to rejoice with me--as [we] have always done before upon the arrival of a precious little one. Don't you suppose he is somewhere near, and maybe knows? -- I just have to think that.

Much as I love the ease and speed of email, I wonder what future generations will have to treasure...

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