Updates & New Discoveries!
It's Sunday evening and the house is quiet. Cozied up on the couch, I'm looking at Larry's handwriting on another faded envelope, stamped with a war-era 'Torch of Enlightenment', and an entreaty to join the Red Cross Roll Call. It's entirely possible that I am the first person to open and read this letter in at least 35 years, and potentially much longer than that. What a lovely feeling it is, to have access to a private world so full of sweetness. I no longer feel like a trespasser here, I now feel like a long-lost grand daughter, a welcome neighbor, a new friend of these ghosts. It's now my chosen job to tend this secret garden so that last century's blooms can color new lives. I'm tiptoeing through these flowers with such contentment. I feel both protective and bold: a new mother eager to bore everyone to tears with stories and pictures of the very best baby in the world. This journey has already been filled with one exhilarating find after another and I have a lot to catch you up on!
Let's start here...
About 2 weeks ago, I had the opportunity to meet with the flea market vendor who was selling the letters late last year. She had agreed to bring in most if not all of the remaining personal items she still had that are connected to this family. She brought out a large paper tote bag crammed full of ephemera, a few garments, and some large-scale photographs of WWII -era airplanes. My mom had come with me to see what we'd find, and the store generously offered us a small space to do a first look-through of the items to see what I may want to purchase. I could have already told her I wanted it ALL, but she asked me to make her an offer, so I wanted to glance though everything first. We busily (and gently) sorted the papers, receipts, postcards, photographs, and garments to assess it all. A few things I recognized immediately as connected to topics discussed in the letters; photographs, Valentines', Christmas Cards, postcards, pay stubs, ID cards, assorted notes, instructional manuals, a dress of Joy's (!!!), an Eagle Scout cap, and a (SOMEHOW) preserved corsage of red rose buds tucked in a Valentine's Card box!
No way this was not all coming back home with me! I gladly made the vendor an offer, she agreed and off we went. I messaged Larry & Joy's daughter, Jonell, as soon as I got home that evening to let her know- that day also happened to be her 65th birthday, and this January was also the 35th anniversary of Joy's death. I was so glad to be able to retrieve a bit more of her family history for her on that day of all days!
I'm slowly working on documenting and photographing all the new items (it's been a busy couple of weeks, so it's slow going). There are tons of new items that help to give context to the letters and fill in some of the timeline gaps in their story! I sent some preliminary questions and photos over to Jonell and was elated to learn the following:
- I now have a photograph of the young man who introduced Larry & Joy, as well as much more of the story of how & where they met!!!!!
- I also have a 1940s photograph of Joy's (much older) cousin who she calls 'Aunt' Ruth; Ruth is the last living family member, other than Jonell, who knew Larry & Joy in person.
- I HAVE FOUND JOY'S WEDDING DRESS!!!!!!! I cannot wait to share it with you once we reach that point in the letters... but I'll be saving it till then 😉
I thought I couldn't ask for more.... until two nights ago....
I'm starting to put together a timeline of Larry & Joy's life together, and compiling questions I can hopefully answer as the research continues. I found myself wondering what Larry and Joy did immediately after the war ended in 1945; some of the new documents I found insinuate that they may have gone to live in West Virginia for a while before returning to Kentucky to stay. I thought there might a chance that they discussed their plans in some of the letters from 1945.
When I purchased the letters in December, they were separated into 9 bundles, in a generally chronologic fashion. I had spot-checked all the bundles and felt pretty sure that was the case. Over the next few weeks I opened and sorted all the letters from 1942 and 1943, but I've been leaving the later letters alone until I'm ready to process them (the less handling the better). So Friday night I decided to finally open up and sort the two bundles from 1945 to see if I could learn anything about their post-war plans. I opened two of the latest of the letters, which were great, but no mention of any post-war plans. As I finished sorting the last bundle.... something caught my eye.....
A post mark date.... 1941
wait a minute....
1941
From Larry to Joy
in 1941!!!!!!
I know for sure (from Jonell) that Larry & Joy met in summer of 1941, and up until this moment I'd been so sad that there didn't seem to be any letters from the earliest days of their courtship. As you know, the letters I've been sharing with you start in January 1942.
So I sorted, and counted, and with astonishment found that-
There are over 20 letters here from 1941- including what I feel sure may be the very FIRST letters Larry ever sent to Joy! Letters from 1941 also means we can learn of Larry's reaction to Pearl Harbor, and the very first day's of the U.S.'s official involvement in the war.
That's not even all of it! It's turns out that there were quite a few young men other than Larry who were actively vying for Joy's affections- including one of Larry's very best friends. Joy also saved several letters from that gentleman (Charles Summers), which chronicle a short-lived love-triangle, Larry's joyful triumph, and the other fellow's very graceful retreat. (Honestly, it's a master class in honesty, decency, and friendship that our current generations could learn a lot from!) You bet I was up late that night reading this new chapter!!
Now that I know the story of how they met, and have these earlier letters, we're going to pause the timeline and jump back to the very beginning- you've GOT to hear all this before we keep going ahead in time. I'm busy getting the new letters organized and typed up, so here's a little tidbit to stir your imagination.
More to come this week! Thanks for reading along!
Until then friends,
Leah
Oct. 1, 1941
Dearest Joy,
This is the seventh letter I have written to you and all of the others have been torn up. But I am going to send this despite the results. I have been warned that your parents would object to my writing to you and especially if I mention anything about love. Well all my life I have scorned deception, and in this, the most important event in my life, I can see no reason for not being honest....
(the plot thickens...)
This is so exciting! I will gladly skip back to the beginning to learn more about the genesis. I’m so glad you noticed the ones from ‘41!