One of my favorite finds while doing my family research is the long lost family letters hiding in unknown or forgotten places. Recently, while steam cleaning the carpets in my father's house, I came across an accordion file. In the file was a plethora of family finds. Not only did it contain all of the letters my mom had written to my grandmother between 1982 to 1994, but it also contained letters from my grandfather the month after his mother, my great-grandmother, passed away, as well as a letter from Vietnam addressed to my mom.
It may not sound too exciting to some of you, but my mother wrote almost one letter every week to my grandmother as we were growing up, and since her death, fifteen years ago, I have yearned to hear things through her eyes- and now I can.
Due to my grandparents being old-fashioned, and my grandmother being Quaker, many of the family letters I find lack emotion, which often allows for more factual information to be read. Therefore, finding a family letter in my family often exudes information for the reader to feel as though they are living during the time when the letters were written.
No matter what type of letter you may find, there are almost always clues about your ancestor's or in this case, relatives', life. From things they found important, to events that they participated in, long lost letters hold the key to finding more information about our ancestors. So before you toss out that old letter, I would recommend you scan it into your computer and keep it safe, so that future generations can feel as though they know you better long after you are gone.
