Treasure Hunting

Grandma had been in the hospital and was moved to a nursing home for some much needed rest and rehabilitation. It quickly became apparent that she was not going to move home and live independently but would need some level of assistance. And so, during the afternoons, as Grandma rested, my mom, aunt, and myself would steal time away to her apartment. There we started to box up her things, preparing for a move to an unknown destination. As we packed, we uncovered a mass of items, many were things that a child of the Great Depression could just not throw away. Things that many of us would toss or recycle (ketchup packets, butter tubs, rubber bands, and neatly folded squares of foil). There was the family Bible, old family photographs, and books with various clippings tucked inside. We carefully wrapped the teacup and saucer collection. But it was moving the dresser when we stood back in awe and froze. There, carefully packed in a sack was a leather bound scrapbook. It was visibly old and after several moves, this was the first time any of us had ever laid eyes on it. The scrapbook was moved to the bed and we gasped as we turned the first page. Inside the pages were love letters, one for each day of the week, envelopes carefully secured to the pages. It was an unexpected treasure.