Sunday, March 18, 2012

Letter Writing

For seventy-three years my mom has written round robin letters with a bunch of girls.  There were sixteen girls in the original bunch and they met and became friends at seven in 1928.  At eighteen they all began going off in their own directions, some married, some went to college, but life became different for them all.  One of the group decided they should stay in contact writing letters.  One of the bunch would start with a letter and send it on.  As it made the rounds a new letter would be added until finally there were sixteen letters in an envelope.  Then the letters would be removed and a new round of letter writing would begin again.

Now there are four girls left.  They still write but it seems that it takes a little longer for the letters to circulate since the girls don't think there is much news to send.  One girl is on the east coast, one in the midwest, and two on the west coast.  And to think they grew up in Webster City, Iowa.

The last letter came from the east coast and it had in it a black and white picture of the girls at sixteen poised in front of corn stalks.  The girl that took it had been interested in photography and would take the girls around different locations to pose for her pictures.  My mom told me she could remember climbing over a fence to pose among the corn stalks.

One time I told my mom I wish I could have read the letters sent.  She looked at me with shock.  How could I even think those letters could or should be shared with others?  But to me those letters held the lives of those women, their families, their hopes and disappointments.  But to my mom those letters were the continuation of their friendships and private to them.

I do understand and respect her opinion and yet I am jealous.  I never have had the support, love , and friendship with a bunch of girls that lasted a lifetime.  Cheers to the sixteen and cheers to the remaining four!


7 comments:

  1. This is one of the things that I love about the fast disappearing art of letter writing. It probably didn't occur to any of these women that they were writers but I want to read what they have written,too. I am jealous,too. Bravo to those women who kept thieir bonds of friendship strong! Thank you for writing about your mom.

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  2. What a great idea for a close group to create and share as young as they were when they thought of this idea. It would be a private matter since they grew up together so to speak--even in the latter years. I wonder if anyone kept a bunch of the letters. It could become a book.

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  4. My daughter and three friends had a notebook that they started in middle school. They took turns passing it around and writing in it. They kept up the tradition for several years. I never read it, but it was precious to them! She and a cousin started a notebook that they mailed back and forth. Such a fun way to share thoughts!

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  5. I love this story! I don't even know your mom, but I'd love to read those letters too! Just imagine the history shared in them! I've never had girl friends that have been close enough to me to last a lifetime. I wish I had a support group like your mother does.

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  6. That is the coolest story. I've never heard of anyone doing that before. What a unique story and piece of history (should the letters ever be available to other eyes to see) ;).

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  7. What a friendship among those girls! It's amazing that they continue to keep it up. My mom does this with her two sisters, that way they don't have to write the same thing twice.

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