Of late . . .

[sartorias]

Happy Purim to those who celebrate!

Somewhat related, a beautiful and poignant display of dioramas of Polish life in the 1930sIn other news, due to unfortunate circs, my mother had to leave her trailer park and she is about to move into a retirement facility. It's one she picked, and the window of her admittedly small room has a view of the

Comments

[sholio]

Definitely ask your daughter about the letters! My grandmother saved all the letters my parents wrote home in the 1960s and 1970s, and after she died, my dad gathered them all up and sent them to me. I absolutely loved reading them; even the prosaic little details of their lives were fascinating to me. It also opened up some really interesting discussions about that time in their lives, because of course they were sanitized for parental consumption like you were talking about, so asking my mom or my dad how some event or other really went down was fun.

Your experiences in Europe sound like one of those amazing times that can only happen in your 20s, when even the worse bits (well, most of them) make interesting stories later on.

I hope your mom's move goes well.

[sartorias]

So true! There was a lot I kept from them--like having to defend my life with the switchblade I'd picked up in Spain, after one of Franco's many, many police tried to molest me on a train. (Because, as I heard over and over that year, everybody knows that all American girls are sluts, especially blondes.)

[negothick]

Maybe you shouldn't ask NOW--when she'll want to read the letters is, oh, 30 years from now--and she'll have bitter regrets that you didn't save them.

[sartorias]

I'd love to think I'll be alive in thirty years to ask!

[thistleingrey]

Yes, this. Even with the inevitable filters, I think they'll be of some interest.

(Best wishes for your mother's move!)