How interesting it is to re read old letters, especially when it’s address to you. While I was re reading some of my letters, it was as though I was revisiting what the sender was sharing with me. I felt like I missed out on some things. While in those moments, it felt like this was the first time to read the letters. (The letters from my relatives date back to the early 1980’s and 1990’s. )
As I read them again:
I had some thoughts about; How I wish I should have done back then.
Why didn’t I asked more questions?
What held me back on the pursuit to learn more?
Why didn’t I do more?
Now, What can I do?
I know that I can’t change what I didn’t do or what I should have done.
I know that I need to leave this matter be, because the past is in the past.
I can’t change the past. I have to leave room for mysteries.
I can keep moving on and hope for the best.
I can cherries the moments of the past and share some of my letters now.
What I have discovered from my letters, each of them have its own tone .What the sender and I shared is what we wanted to say at that time in our lives. There’s so much in a letter that can say something about us. Here is page two of a letter from my cousin, Willie (White) Winfrey (1904 – 1994) The letter was written on August 16, 1985.
Cousin Willie shared with me about her desire to get the families together and learn more about the family history. And she mentioned about our cousin Ted Blakey. Yes, we make mistakes. But, we can learn from our mistakes and keep moving on. And we learn from one another.
As For My Old Letters:
I compiled them into in a notebook. I’m organizing them according the each person and the time that they sent the letters to me. I can piece together what each was saying and build on from there.
With today’s technology, we can email and text messages. I do keep some of my emails. I print some of them out. I have been putting them into a notebook as well.
May we learn to keep what our relatives send us. May we past on what we learn from our correspondents. May we want to desire to know more about our family history. Amen.
November 12, 2021
Thanks for reading.
Sharing Stories Through Letters #52Ancestors
God bless you.
S. A. Blakley
November In Remembrance: Blakey Blakley WHITE Family Connections
I changed the theme and posted Sharing Stories Through Letters
Generations café via facebook Week 44: Voting
Have you ever found your ancestor on a voter list? Any politicians in the family tree? How about someone involved with the women’s suffrage movement? Feel free to post your links and stories in the comments below.
