This is a bonus letter.
One that I was fortunate to find.
It had been tucked away in Grandma Ollie J's 1943 Webster's Dictionary, and been packed away with her things since they had been packed up and put away in one move or other. Those boxes have seen been moved from North Carolina, maybe to Utah and then back to North Carolina, then up Connecticut, and then shipped from Connecticut to Utah.
The dictionary, along with a random assortment of vintage textbooks, religious books, aka Mormonalia, and other unique finds, were in box that GrumpaMax had me pull out and assess during my winter break. I guess I am the most qualified in the family, and had to put my M.L.S. to use at some point, right? All those years working with old music scores certainly came in handy in assessing whether a book was in good condition, needs to be conserved, or might be worth something to family members, or could possibly one day find a good home.
Anyway, while the books aren't overly valuable in a monetary sense, they were a treasure chest of family information. Along with this letter, I found other things when handling these volumes, some more than a 100 years old. I saw marginalia and other notations from my great, great-great grandparents, or other relatives. I found schoolgirl notes from my mother, c. 1958; receipts for a month of newspaper deliveries signed by my Grandpa Jack, c. 1964; an unsigned 1961 postcard sent to my great-grandfather Charlie, which Grandmary thinks was probably sent by his brother; genealogy notes on Grandpa Jack's side of the family; and probably the weirdest thing, notations in the back of the Webster's dictionary about Grandmary's blood type, as well as Great-grandma Bertha's. (What was Grandma Ollie J tracking?!)
While this letter isn't a gem, the fact that it was found at all, and by me, is amazing. Talk about divine influence! It's been retrieved from where it was placed last by my grandmother, and is now part of the archivally preserved collection of Grandma letters that I will get to pass down to the next generation.
Regarding the letter: This would have been sophomore year of college.
I was busy indeed. I remember that I HATED English IV. I never skipped a class more than I did that one. Mostly because the adjunct professor was horrible; he was not an interactive teacher, and he didn't accept answers or analysis that deviated from what he wanted to hear. Once we began to notice this and figure out what he wanted, my classmates and I banded together. We were all skipping on and off. Somehow we all managed to cover enough classes that someone had notes, and we created study groups where we taught each other the materials. We learned more from teaching each other, and frankly, did a better job than the instructor did. We lambasted him on the reviews at semester end, and he was not rehired. Go us. (Kids, don't learn from me here. Go to class, but talk to the dept. head if you have a problem with the teacher.)
The music classes weren't bad. There were just a lot of them to balance out with the lit. and history classes.
The other notable thing, and I'm almost ashamed to mention it, is how much lying is mixed in with the truth here. Church? Reading my Book of Mormon? I might have made some token efforts, but these were really to appease grandma. She was a smart lady. She probably knew. (Again, kids, don't learn from me here. Grandmas are smarter than they appear. Don't be fooled by the sweet, little old lady looks and grandmotherly ways. They are on to you!)
[College]
1/24/92
Dear Grandma,
How are you? Sorry it has taken me so long to get in touch with you. The first two weeks of school have just wizzed by and I suddenly realized how late it was. I got my grades during break and was very pleasantly surprised. I thought that I was taking a risk by taking seven classes. Instead it seems that the risk was justified. I managed to get a cumulative average of 3.89 out of a possible 4.0. So I get to go to another of those lovely, yet highly boring Dean’s List Dinners with others who made a 3.6 or better. It’s an honor I know but those things last so long and I have a great deal of work to do this semester. When we had to sign up for this semester’s classes last fall, I decided that since I wasn’t doing too poorly, I’d take another class. So I have eight now, which are: English IV, poetry of the 19th century; American Lit. III, Hemingway, Steinback, etc.; China in the Modern World; the 2nd half of the other class that I was taking, History of Jazz; Listening to Music, a semi history/music appreciation class; Piano; Choir; [and] Keyboard Harmony. So I’m a busy girl. Plus I still have my job in the library, and I’m looking for an internship this summer.
I have been going to church a little bit more than I was, and I’m trying to catch up on my tithing, and I’m reading my Book of Mormon … So I’m not neglecting that aspect like I was.
So basically life is back to some degree of normalcy. Never a dull moment here. So how are things on your end? Is every one surviving? Tell them I said hi! I write again soon when something exciting happens. Til then,
I love you,
[Auntie Nettie]
No comments:
Post a Comment