GHOSTS, DREAMS, STORIES
You see tonight I’m not really sure who your father is...
Excerpt from a letter from my mother, August 19, 1957
Trio From a set of seven little leather-bound books. Other titles include Alice in Wonderland and Just So Stories.
Directory Her name didn't appear here. But prominent New Yorkers of the day did.
Needs Haircut | Marmion by Walter Scott. The Thistle Library, ANDERSONS, Edinburgh, Ltd. This undated little book, with its cloth binding in tartan design and marble endpapers, is epic poem about the Battle of Flodden, first published in1808. I'm guessing my mom liked it because of the plaid bookcover, suspect it wasn't because she was interested in epics or battles.
GHOSTS, DREAMS, STORIES
She collected old books, little leather books, and children's books among other odds an ends. She was an avid reader and writer, too. She lacked confidence to develop her talent. Most of her work was damaged due to sewage contamination after a flood. The little books remained unscathed.
After Sophie read and recorded the letter, we chatted about what it might have been like to be a 22-year-old woman in 1957. You may listen to excerpts of the letter here.
My daughter my girl... I wonder, and will do so when you are my age and when your daughter is my age. I'll wonder 'what if...'
Imagine my daughter is the very age my mother was when she wrote the letter. It is clear from the conversation above, today's 22-year-old doesn't wonder. Not about the issues that concerned my mother at that age. I wonder, though, I wonder why my mother didn't tell me about the jaguar-driving divorcé. I will never really know. What is certain is IF she had opted for the man who made her heart sing, there would be no #letterproject. I also know that my husband, thus far, do not have secrets for our children to one day decipher.