Back in Time-A Box of Letters

A couple of months ago my Aunt Barbie, my late fathers sister,  passed away. In the process of clearing out some of her things, my cousin Genevieve found some boxes of letters and pictures and asked me if I wanted them. Of course, I'd love them. Aunt Barbie was one of the letter writers in my life and I was curious as to what letters could be in the box.

The box arrived and I put it aside in a corner of my bedroom, planning on waiting for a time when the house was quiet and to myself. This past week, Nora awoke early one sunny morning and asked if we could open it. I said, "No, Nora, I'm going to wait for a quiet time to open that. Its old letters and pictures". That made Nora even more insistent and encouraged me to open it. So I did. There were bundles of letters in rubber bands and a moderate collection of pictures. Nora was fascinated.

I opened a few of the letters and read parts of them out loud. Tears trickled slowly down my cheeks and Nora wanted to know why I was crying.  I explained to her that the letters were written by my dad when he was young and reading the letters made me miss him.

The 3 letters I read were from my dad to my Aunt Barbie when he was in his early 20's. My father passed away when I was 16 and his writing is a chance to see inside his thoughts and mind; at such a formative time in his life. Many of the letters are written on a typewriter, single spaced. His style is reminiscent of a journal entry-really sharing his thoughts on people, himself and his aspirations for life.

I called my twin, Ella, and told her about the box and read a few sections of letters. We laughed and cried together at the chance to truly re-discover our father. Though his pen, his thoughts. We giggled  at a few of the things he said and reflected on how similar we are to him. We are his daughters and found comfort in our similarities with him.

Ella and I mutually agreed that I would hold off on reading the letters until we are together and can go through them together and perhaps organize them somehow. They are an incredible piece of family history to be treasured.

Zoya