What I’m Reading – Leora’s Letters by Joy Neal Kidney

The ancient Egyptians had an interesting concept of death. They believed that as long as you remembered the name of a person, that person lived on. I’m asking that you hold onto that idea for a while because it’s important here.

There are fewer and fewer people alive today who remember a terrible day in December, 1941, when our country was changed forever. There are fewer and fewer people alive today who responded then to that event and donned the uniform of our country to go do something about it.

The Wilson brothers were some of the young men who did just that. With a large part of her family scattered across the globe fighting a desperate war, Leora Wilson–a farmwife in Dallas County, Iowa–kept the lines of communication going. She wrote letters, she got letters from the boys. She shared news from home, and they told her what was going on with them. Often times while in combat, censors got hold of their letters and information was deleted.

But still, the news came through. What we have is a curtain pulled back on the window of time, allowing us to look into the lives of people caught up in the events of the day. It shows events that might be considered trivial, but nothing is trivial when you’re living through it.

Leora kept all the letters, and they were handed down to her oldest granddaughter, Joy Neal Kidney, who has taken them and, using the words of the authors of the letters, built a fascinating story of the times. There’s triumph and tragedy in the pages, and there’s also hope.

Now, back to my opening thought. Scattered across this country, hidden in attics and basements are boxes of letters. They’ve gotten yellowed and dry with age, and the writing is fading away. One day, they’ll be gone forever, as indeed, some already are.

They’ve been tossed into the flotsam of history because of too much pain or just plain “who cares?” One day, probably after grandma dies, the boxes will be taken out to the curb and left for the trash man to take to the dump.

When that happens, you’ll be poorer as a family and we’ll be poorer as a people. Those letters are all that remain of some of the men and women who came before you. Your family history is to important to let it fade away.

Joy should be commended. She has turned the letters into something that will last forever. Even if the book only sits on a library shelf for eternity, because of her work and dedication, the Wilson brothers’ names will never be erased or forgotten.

You can find Joy’s book on Amazon. And visit her here.