Hidden Treasures Inside Letters

      Turkey, stuffing, green bean casserole and let’s not forget the pies.  That has been my life these past weeks and I have severely neglected my blog, for that I apologize. I do hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday and enjoyed the turkey with all the trimmings and of course your friends and family.  Some of us are now preparing for the Christmas season and its fast approaching. So if you don’t see a blog every day during this festive season just keep in mind I have children so with the decorating, shopping, baking and of course our new family tradition making “Gingerbread Houses” might interfere with my blogging.

      I believe in one of my first blogs I posted something about having accumulated thousands of letters, documents and photos throughout the years.  Some I won on eBay others I found at auctions, garage sales and even from my own family.  I wanted to talk about the process of scanning and the importance of saving these wonderful treasures but first I wanted to share something. 

     I’ve scanned everything from birthday cards to letters of joy and those of sympathy. While scanning all of them I noticed a hidden treasure within the treasure that some of us might miss.  Here take for instance something that was written in a letter I scanned last week;

“Sorry to hear about the passing of your Aunt Meredith last week. I’m sure it was hard for your mom being that it was two days before Christmas and all. Kristy and I were going to come by your house after the services but mom said she was worried about all the snow and ice. Did you and Robbie go to bingo or the USO dance? I think he’s truly got eyes for you and only you, no matter who he dances with.”

     From this one section of the letter you can see Aunt Meredith died December 23^rd, the mother of the girl the letter is written to (Sara) is still alive.  Kristy and (Beth) are friends of Sara’s. This December was one with snow and ice. Sara, Kristy and Beth live somewhere close to where a USO is located so chances are military soldiers are around. Plus let’s not forget that Sara has a possible crush on Robbie and he could possibly be in the military.

     My point is, don’t be in a hurry to dismiss the “filler” in a letter, you might just miss something interesting and important.   Always take time to read the letters of your ancestors more than once, you might have missed something the first time. Plus don’t forget to take a special look at the envelopes the letters are mailed in.

I want to extend an exciting invitation to all of you who follow my blog. Tomorrow, Saturday, December 1^st, I will be on FGS Radio – My Society, hosted by Randy Whited. I’m truly thrilled and honored to be part of this and have the opportunity to discuss my love and experience with genealogy and my recent appearance on “How the States Got Their Shapes”.  I hope you can listen in and I look forward to hearing your feedback.   Just click on the link below and enjoy.

  http://www.blogtalkradio.com/mysociety/2012/12/01/promoting-genealogy-to-a-larger-audience