Sepia Saturday 732 and Wordless Wednesday. Resuming the series about letters from my dad’s brother Frederic Mason Charboneau while he was in the US Army during WWII.
When my dad’s brother, Uncle Fred, last appeared on Molly’s Canopy, it was 1942 and he was sending money home to my dad Norm Charboneau, who had just started college at Clarkson University in Potsdam, N.Y.
Since then, I completed an A to Z Challenge blog series in April titled “My Life: The Prequel (In Snapshots)“ about my parents’ lives before I was born — followed by a blogging break to work on other writing projects.
Uncle Fred’s welcome letter
Meanwhile, perusing some family papers, I was surprised to discover a letter that Uncle Fred and his wife Jean sent to my parents shortly after I was born.
So, I thought that their letter would make a nice transition from the A to Z series back to Uncle Fred’s wartime correspondence. Here’s part one, in Fred’s handwriting:
“Holland Patent, N.Y., February 5th, 1950: Dear Mom, Pop, & little one [that would be me!]: Congratulations! We have been going to write every day, but with Jean working every day and one thing and another, we have just put it off. We have sent away for a present for Molly Beth, and as soon as it comes, we will send it to you. Jean is now sprinkling (10:15 PM) clothes getting them ready. Write more this next week. Well, I suppose you are walking the floor at night, or is she a model baby and doesn’t cry. That’s all for now. As ever Fred and Jean“
Below that, Fred’s wife Jean, who worked a busy schedule as a nurse, added a personal note of her own:
“Please forgive me. I’ve been very happy for you and should have told you so promptly. I hope we can see Molly Beth and, incidentally, her proud parents before she gets too grown up. I can’t see any vacation in sight for me, however. Many best wishes to you 3, Jean“
Meeting paternal relatives
I’ve always felt bad that I have no direct memories of Uncle Fred or Aunt Jean — since he passed when I was four years old and she later remarried. So, I was pleased to discover the notes they sent to my parents after I was born — because, although I can’t remember them, they certainly knew me.
We probably met in person when my parents visited Holland Patent, N.Y., to show me off to my paternal grandparents W. Ray and Mary (Owen) Charboneau. Fred and Jean lived there, too, and so did Uncle Owen and wife Gig (Desjardins) Charboneau. Plus, Fred and Owen jointly operated the Charboneau Brothers General Store there.
That was probably also my first meetup with Uncle Frannie and wife Marion (Warner) Charboneau, and Uncle Hube and wife Doris (Chandler) Charboneau and their families, who lived nearby.
Preserving valuable ephemera
It’s amazing how the smallest scrap of paper — a note, a birthday card, a telegram, or a letter like the one Uncle Fred and Aunt Jean sent to my parents — can meaningfully connect us to past generations. Here’s to preserving our valuable family ephemera for generations to come!
Up next, we return to Uncle Fred on WWII duty with the U.S. Army in England and North Africa. Please stop back. Meanwhile, please visit the other intrepid bloggers over at Sepia Saturdayay and at Wordless Wednesday (using the link below).
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What a family treasure. Aunts and Uncles bring so much into our lives. I sure had some good ones.
Thank you for joining the Wordless Wednesday Blog Hop.
Have a fabulous Wordless Wednesday. ♥
Thanks so much! Agree about aunts and uncles — they add so much.
What a treasure find of family legacy ~ great post and photos ~ thanks,
Wishing you good health, laughter and love in your day,
clm ~ A ShutterBug Explores,
aka (A Creative Harbor)
Thanks for visiting and yes, a family treasure indeed.
It’s beautiful how this treasure gives you insight into other family members’ perspectives on your arrival in the world! I enjoyed meeting you in LWS Writers’ Hour this morning and will share your blog. I know some other avid genealogists who will appreciate meeting you and reading your work.
Much appreciated, Dawn. Great meeting you as well and thanks for introducing me in the larger group!
Little handwritten notes like this are a lost practice in this digital age, but I guess texting is as close as it comes. But there is something about seeing the actual handwriting that makes it so meaningful.
I wonder what will become of all the emails and texts. Will they be preserved and passed on? And how? Something to ponder.
What a fantastic find to give you some meaningful connection to him and knowing that he indeed knew of you and thought of you! It’s great that your parents save all of those letters! 🙂
Yes, I am grateful my parents and grandparents were savers. So many family stories are amplified by the ephemera they kept.
I also love a good note or letter. They can reveal so much. Thanks for sharing these.
Thanks, Nancy. As you point out, these notes are priceless.
In these days of social media, & emailsetc, I wonder in the future if our descendants will have the pleasure of seeing the handwriting of their ancestors There is something so special to touch something your relatives gave penned whether it is a letter or something they have signed . I know how I value such items in my collection such as a signed will or the letter written by my great uncle a few weeks before he was killed in the First World War, and the letters written to me by my father when I was working abroad. Yes, just bits of paper, but so valuable emotionally. M
So true! In the past few years, I kept up a correspondence with some of my mother’s childhood and school friends as a way of maintaining a family connection to them. Now that they have passed, I realize they were the last letter writers in my world. Today, sadly, everything is electronic.
Hello Molly, it’s great to see you picking up the story of your Uncle Fred again. This letterswas a wonderful find for you. I can imagine your excitement. I agree with you that the smallest snippet is cause for great excitement when researching your family. Just finding a signature on a document sends me into raptures.
Agree! I have a nice collection of signatures from official documents as well, and they are treasured.
How wonderful that this scrap of paper survived so you know these people were interested in your birth!!
Thanks, Marian. So meaningful to know I “met” my Uncle and his wife, although I was too young to remember.
I enjoy your series, Molly, partly because you discover the little threads that are woven into the fabric of family and social connections. Notes like this one are the kind of ephemera that too often is never saved. In a way your story preserves the close relationship between your dad and his brother. It makes your family research more insightful than just a list of names, dates and places.
Thanks, Mike. I am forever thankful to my parents and grandparents that they saved ephemera like this. How easy it would have been to toss everything — yet these are the very items that give nuance to family stories that would be dry indeed with only official records to go by.
That’s too bad you never had a chance to know your Uncle Fred & Aunt Jean, but at least you have the letter they sent to your Mom & Dad. How neat is that! I was lucky. My Dad and his sisters & their husbands all lived close to each other for a while when I was growing up so I got to see all of them often. We used to have big family gatherings – especially at Thanksgiving & Christmas and sometimes at Easter. We also saw each other at other times as well. Over time, however, my uncles’ jobs took them farther away. Two of my aunts & uncles & families wound up in southern California (we lived in the S.F. East Bay Area) and my uncle Phil, who was an engineer with the U.S. government, took his family all over the world! 🙂
How fortunate that you lived so close to your extended family. We also used to visit my paternal and maternal relatives on family car trips, but it’s not the same as living near them like you did.