How did the letters remain a secret for all these years?
The scrapbook containing the letters was moved to six different homes during my grandparents' marriage. During their sixty-two years of wedlock, no one knew about the scrapbook, even though their children often helped pack and unpack boxes. My grandparents must have taken great care to move these letters, without the knowledge of those closest to them.
So, maybe they wouldn't want the letters discovered now?
I have thought about and struggled with this very question. And I believe that if they didn't want the letters read, they would have destroyed them. Both of my grandparents were free to share their faith in Jesus Christ and knew their time (and ours too) on earth would be brief. And yet, the letters remained tucked behind the dresser. After my grandpa died, my grandma may have struggled with letting go of the letters. However, I believe eventually she would have tossed them, with the help of her dear friend, if she didn't want her family to discover them.
Maybe the letters were a forgotten treasure?
My grandma became very frail, at the end of her life, as her health started to decline, but her mind remained sharp. And while she did start to forget some things, I do not believe that she would have forgotten about these letters. As a young woman, she took great care to put these letters into a scrapbook and carefully moved them as her family grew and they moved to a new home. I believe they were important and would not be easily forgotten.
Okay, maybe they weren't forgotten, but maybe they were 'out of sight, out of mind'?
The letters were not hidden, but instead they were tucked behind a dresser in a place that they were easily found as we started to moved furniture. She had other things tucked behind her dresser, in an attempt to keep her apartment neat and tidy. I believe she knew they were there. If the letters would have been stored behind a secret panel or a loose board in the floor, then it would make me wonder about the ethics in posting them.
Where have the letters been since their discovery?
The letters were discovered and soon after that my grandma passed away. Time passed and the scrapbook remained tucked inside a sack. I eventually asked for the scrapbook and struggled to know how to proceed. The scrapbook is obviously falling apart and each time a page is turned, more paper crumbles. So, instead of reading the letters, I researched options. After deciding to put together the blog, I started doing some research, but didn't stay up late reading letters.
And so . . .
More than likely, these letters were last read by Ruby upon receiving them, and then tucked away in a box that she kept hidden away from her younger brothers. As I post these letters, I (along with my entire family) am reading them for the first time.
Join me, as I peer into the window of the hearts of my grandparents during a year of their courtship (1946-1947)...
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