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My father was born Tuesday, March 9, 1926. On Tuesday of this week, day after tomorrow, on what would have been his ninety-fifth birthday, I will think fondly of Father, as I do every day of every week. He died three months ago.
Dad left behind a bit of clutter in his home, heaps of multifarious ephemera insufficiently organized and largely unlabeled, much of it of no discernible value, neither sentimental nor monetary. Almost every time I poke through those heaps, however, I find, among the worthless stuff, precious bits of family history that I never knew or had thoroughly forgotten.
One day this past week, I discovered an envelope bearing a Rio, Wis., postmark of Feb 13, 1962 (2-PM), and a notation in my mother’s handwriting indicating that it was received at my parents’ home in Virginia on 2/15/62. The envelope bears a four-cent stamp (Abraham Lincoln), and it’s addressed in Grandma Grossmann’s handwriting to my brother Bruce, who was at that time nine years old. Inside the envelope was a Valentine card featuring plenty of hearts, brightly colored sketches of four antique automobiles, an eight-line verse rhyming “combine” and “Valentine,” and, below the verse, in Grandma’s handwriting as on the envelope, Love, / Grandpa & Grandma.
A wonderful card, I would say, for a pair of old folks, aged sixty (Gram) and fifty-nine (Gramp), to have chosen for that especially beloved grandson. The card is printed on one side of decent paper stock measuring a bit over twelve inches by seven, but folded twice, and I notice now, when I unfold it and look at the unprinted side, that the four hearts and the three old cars on the face of the card are embossed—classy! Now when I refold the card and examine the front once more, I run my fingertip appreciatively over those cars and hearts, and I notice, too, that the cars and hearts are framed in gold and the hearts are adorned with glitter that has stayed intact all these very nearly six decades.
And now here’s the part I like best: tucked inside the first “pocket” of the folded card when I first found it, was a folded letter, white paper, eight inches by ten-and-a-half when unfolded, not punched for a school binder, but blue-lined as if to guide a student’s penmanship. I would like to tell you what is written on it in blue ballpoint, in what I immediately recognized as my grandfather’s hand. I will punctuate (or fail to punctuate) and will capitalize faithfully as in the original. It’s only a page-and-a-half, and it took me precisely five minutes and fifteen seconds to dictate it into my smartphone so I could send it in an email to myself and then “paste” it onto this Web page for you. I am positive that my grandfather and my brother would approve of my sharing it. Thank you, as always, dear reader, for spending a bit of time with me.
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Rio Wis Feb 13 - 62
Dear Brucie :
Surprise Grand pa is writing to you I have not been fishing since you boys went home and my boat is up side down where we tied it at Wyocena so no fish. And this year they are charging $2.00 extra for trout fishing So I will buy my trout (Japanese) 2 for 59¢ frozen. And will allow no fishing in the creek.
We get 750 Pullets next Monday Feb 19th that will fill the hen house to capacity and by April 1st should get 100 dozen eggs a day. We are getting 600 and over a day now so we have eggs to wash every evening or morning. I got new tires for the truck yester day so I will be able to double the load and go only once a week for feed I am building a feed bin up stairs in the barn to hold 3 ton so I will have enough for 2 weeks at a time. In case of bad weather. You boys would enjoy seeing the deer as we have 3 that come out in the corn field East of the barn almost every evening at about an hour before dark. An old doe and 2 young doe’s
Expect you boys are anxiously waiting for June and up to Wis for the summer again. I understand no one has had any luck ice fishing in Wyocena so should be good again this year and we know where they are there. I have to fix the old boat up some so it dont leak. And we will be ready to go. Well I have to make nests for the new chickens so will have to get to work. Will see you this summer after the snow and ice goes.
Love
Grand pa and Grand ma
♦
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