Last week I had a blown away moment...
I'm clearing through my study to try and get it in some semblance of order ready for my university studies to recommence this week. Since it's recycling day, I figure I may as well sort through some old paperwork and textbooks and get them out of the house.
So I begin to consolidate an accordion file Ian was using. I knew there wasn't much in there and it could be more compactly stored to be sorted through later.
As I'm working through, I find a document envelope labelled "John 2011".
I open it up to find a collection of letters Ian had written to John over John's first year of life.
One is undated. I wouldn't be surprised to find this is from around the time John was born.
One is dated 5 June 2011, the day after Ian and I's wedding, and I can see through the envelope it contains a copy of the menu from the reception.
One is 11 August 2012. Since Ian died June 2012, I’m pretty certain this is 2011, and would be the day John turned six months old.
One is 16 November 2011, around John's 9 month mark.
And one is dated 17 March 2011. Ian's 46th birthday and the day he got sick. Knowing Ian, and since he had a copy of the menu for his birthday lunch in advance, there's probably a copy of that in there.
All the letters are sealed, and will remain that way until I give them to John at an appropriate, or needed, time. Ian was know for his letter writing, and I have copies of lots of emails where he talks about John to his friends, but it's such a thrill to find letters written specifically TO John.
So as much as a surprise it was to find these letters, it also wasn't a surprise to find them.
Wow, what a gift! I don't know if I would have been able to leave them unopened but it certainly seems like the right thing to do.
ReplyDeleteWhat an amazing man and gift for his son...Just brings on the tears.
ReplyDeleteThat is powerful. I keep hoping I will find something of Kevin's like that. Some sort of message, anything at all. Its a dream but its hope, too. I'm very happy you found those letters.
ReplyDeleteWhat an awesome find! I moved last fall and was soooo wishing I'd find something like this. (I didn't.)
ReplyDeleteIt's such a treasure.
Thanks all. I've had some friends question why I've not opened them, if only to find out what was said about me. But since I've seen/received plenty of other messages to and from other friends of Ian's I'm pretty confident they've got positive content.
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