Excerpt from the letter:
‘In the afternoon, I took the children out for a walk to see all the bunting, etc., and in the evening, Mummie and I took a stroll round to see the sights. Well, they were so well worth seeing that I ran home, got Rosemary up and dressed her, and took her, clutching her toy rabbit ‘Dear Dear’, round with us to the biggest bonfire, where all the children were playing games. The houses were all lit up, with their wirelesses in the open windows, playing the same musical programme, and decorated with flags and fairy lights in V-shapes. It really was pretty, and I thought Rosemary might remember it for always. She was thrilled with the streetlamps, and thought they were stars dropped from the sky. She was an angel and went straight off to sleep again when we returned.’
Whilst clearing my late mother’s study I stumbled upon my grandmother Rita’s treasure box where I found in amongst diaries and photographs, a stack of letters in my grandfather John Reed’s handwriting, the dates revealing some of the Second World War years. Having previously been given my grandmother’s letters from the same period I wondered… if ordered and dovetailed, could these letters speak to one another? Would they reveal a conversation over those years? What stories would unfold, and what snippets of my grandparents, Rita and John’s daily lives could be revealed?
It was truly a magical moment. I had no idea of the precious and wonderful paper trail that my dear mum had left to me until I began piecing together this unique story.
This letter together with many others is included my book ‘Dear Mr Snippet – A conversation in letters and diary entries from 1939 to 1945″ due to be published on 15 April 2025. It will also be on display at The Postal Museum, London, as from 29 April 2025 with John’s reply.
