Wednesday, October 5, 2011

Words I Cannot Imagine Writing


Here is another postcard from Grandpa, but this one is to my dad.  It reads as follows:


Dear Maxie:
Here is a picture of part of Oakland.
I have been there several times.
It look like Daddy is going for
a long ride on a ship and
won’t see you for a while.  Be
a good boy and don’t forget
me.  I’ll be back some day
and we will have a big
time then.  Take good care of
Danny and be good to Mother
and Sister.  Love,
                        Daddy.

[postmarked from U.S. Navy Oct. 29, 1944]

I read this and typed out the words and thought about my cutie pie kiddo sleeping downstairs and could not in a million years imagine writing these words out and sending them off.  He also wrote one to his other son, who was less than a year old, and I imagine this might be what is in the postcard from the last post, to my aunt.  It's just beyond comprehension.  It makes me wonder how that changes a person - how it changed Grandpa.  I know he was in love with his family, and I know he was ambivalent about the war... I can't quite get the words out right but this is one of many things that really puts World War II in much more relevant light.  This is the best history course I've ever taken.

1 comment:

  1. Gah I'm so with you on this one. It's hard not to be moved with such expressions of tenderness in the face of something so menacing and scary as WWII.

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