Through the Pages

1957

Dear Grandma Cath,

How have you been doing? It has been ages since I have last written to you! I have just been completely swamped with all my schoolwork, and assignments, and dance lessons, and everything else that keeps coming up as soon as I am done with one thing. I must confess, though, I am not letting myself get all that caught up in a tedious routine. Just last Friday, I spent the whole evening dancing with Daisy and Kate to Buddy Holly, which made for a jolly good time!

But that is old news! That is not what I am writing for, anyway. The other day, I was helping mummy clean the attic – because you know how untidy it keeps getting, and you know how she can never stand idly by in the face of such ‘disarray’ – and I found what I assume is an old family album. It is a lovely bottle green and leather-bound, and since I simply cannot recognize a single face in it except for yours and grandpa’s, I was hoping you could enlighten me. I know that you are coming to visit in a few months, but I just couldn’t wait.

There is one picture I found particularly curious and I am sending it to you with this letter. I am absolutely dying to know who this man is and what on earth was happening when this picture was taken.

In the meanwhile, give my best wishes to grandpa and tell him I loved reading the book he sent me for my birthday! The Hobbit is absolutely going on my list of all-time favorite novels! I am actually thinking of borrowing J.R.R Tolkien’s The Fellowship of the Ring next, from Dirk Richards down the street. That boy almost always has copies of whichever books you would like to read lying around in his house. Anyway, I am dying to hear from you grandma! Do write back soon!

Love,

Elizabeth

1957

Dear Lizzy,

I have been doing just fine, dear, and I hope you have been too. I do hope your school eases up on its apparently endless supply of projects and assignments, but I am quite glad to hear that you are still continuing with your dance lessons. And, of course, who could blame you for wanting to practice all the steps you are learning with your best friends?

Now, I am actually very eager to talk to you about what you have correctly identified as our old family album. It had been lost by your father when he was just a child, and I was quite sure we would never find it again among all those boxes of moth-eaten dresses, and the absolutely ancient teddy bears and tops, and all those old books that your grandfather insists upon storing in the attic! It is, without a doubt, the best album we have, going back several years in our family history, and it has several empty pages for our next generations, too.

I have looked at the picture you sent me, and the man you spoke of is my father, and your great grandfather, Theodore. He was always such a kind man, with such a warm, sunny disposition – you really remind me of him, you know-- that is sometimes all I can remember him for. But what you see in this picture was also rather an essential part of him. You see, dear, your great grandfather was absolutely besotted with nature. He was more fascinated by it than anyone I have ever met! He would spend hours together observing strange insects, taking pictures of stray animals, writing about different varieties of seeds, and the like.

I remember the morning on which this picture was taken: it was a remarkably hot summer day, and our house seemed to have been taken as a prime spot for all sorts of strange birds to land and perch on. So, my father, with great fistfuls of birdseed in his hands, had gone to stand outside in our garden to try and see the birds up close. And I remember what happened next like it was just yesterday: all together dozens of crows, and sparrows, and finches, had come flying over to him in the noisiest crowd I have ever heard, and had settled down all around him to peck at the seed that he was holding. He had been so surprised by the entire thing that he had laughed all through it! That is what you can see in this picture.

Well, I hope I have managed to satisfy your curiosity, my dear. Do send me some more pictures, and I’ll see if I can identify them for you. Oh, and I was thinking, Lizzy, that I could teach you how to make your favorite orange tarts when I come over to visit. We can pick the oranges fresh from your orchard and make everything together from beginning to end. Let me know is that is something you would be interested in, my dear. Take care of yourself!

Love,

Grandma

1981

Dear Aunt Lizzy,

I have so, so much to tell you, but not enough patience to sit still and put it all down on paper! To begin with, I finally got a chance to show off the lovely black and yellow striped jacket you bought for me – which just so happens to perfectly match my favorite pair of golden hoop earrings -- when I went out with Teddy and mummy to watch Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark, which you absolutely must watch, aunt Lizzy! It was just the most fun I have ever had!

Secondly, I have to say, I greatly enjoyed reading your account of your great grandpa Theo’s adventures in birdwatching! I showed your letter to Elle and she laughed so hard that she almost fell off her seat!

I absolutely had to know more about the various pictures in this album, so I am mailing one more to you with this letter. It is nothing as remarkable as the last one, but I find that this one has quickly become one of my favorites, and I would love to know the story behind it.

I hope you like the book I recommended to you in my last letter, by the way. I totally loved it from the get go and thought it was just the sort of thing you would enjoy. Let me know, and do write back soon!

Love,

Bea

P.S Don’t think I don’t know why you chose this design for my new jacket!

1981

Dear Beatrice,

Though I do not normally approve of skipping past pleasantries I will make an exception for this letter, my little honeybee, because I also have so much to tell you. I know all the people in this picture because of your great grandma Catherine’s stories, and to tell you the truth, this is rather one of my favorites, too.

Let us see now, if I am not much mistaken, the first of the pair in this picture, the boy holding a paperback and smiling at the camera, is your great grandfather Lucas. I have to tell you, Bea, that he was the most voracious reader I have ever known. Well, other than you that is! He absolutely adored stories: he loved immersing himself in them, discussing them, telling them to me and your mother in the summers when we came to visit, and everything else that came with it.

At his side in the photograph is, of course, your great grandma Catherine. I am not sure if you can tell, but this picture was taken right after a bicycle race between grandma Cath and some of her school friends. You can see if you squint that she is all flushed and laughing, because I remember her telling me that she won that race by a landslide.

Grandma also told me that grandpa Lucas had come to the races just so that he could cheer her on. He sat beside the track with his face buried in his book all through the rest of the races! I must tell you, dear Bea, that you look exactly like your great grandmother, with your curly hair and dimple cheeks. You have got all the best of both your great grandparents in you.

But enough said on that! I did, in fact, read the book you recommended to me, and I have to say, I absolutely loved reading The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy! You were right in thinking that it is my kind of story, and I just couldn’t bring myself to put it down once I started on it! I will try to find some more novels by Douglas Adams if I can, and I will make sure to let you know if I find any good ones. In the meantime, do tell me if you want the stories behind any more of these photographs, and I will write back to you as soon as possible. Take care, my honeybee.

Love,

Elizabeth

P.S Oh, shush! Let your favorite aunt have her little fun, won’t you?

1996

Dear Auntie Bea,

Thank you for the sweets you sent me with your last letter (I promise I didn’t tell mum about them.) My new school is fine, thanks for asking. All the teachers are pretty nice and my classes are alright, though of all my subjects I think natural history seems particularly interesting. I’ve made friends with a boy from my class named Nick. He is really nothing like me: he’s always much too loud, and energetic, and he is the biggest fan of rock and roll that I have ever met – although, he also loves Madonna almost as much as I do -- but he’s loads of fun to be around and he keeps dragging me to these events that I always end up enjoying more than I think.

I loved reading your last letter about the photo that I mailed you of your great grandparents. I can’t help but relate to great great grandpa Theo because from what you’ve told me, he seems just as quiet as I always am. And, by the way, I found another picture that I think might have been taken at the same bicycle race. It’s a little blurry, but you can sort of make out a young boy sitting behind a row of bicycles and reading a book.

But that’s not the picture I want to ask you about. There’s another photo that I think is really curious, and I keep wondering about what was happening when it was taken. I’m not very sure, but the little boy in it looks quite a bit like grandpa; he has the same curly, dark hair. Anyway, I’m sending it to you along with this letter: do tell me if you know anything about it.

Take care of yourself, auntie, and if possible, please send me some recommendations of good books on natural history or even botany. Write back soon!

Love,

Luke

P.S What family rule were you talking about in your last letter? I’m not sure what you meant but it does sound very ominous.

1996

Dear Lukey,

I am really quite glad that you are getting along well at your new school! Your new friend sounds like a hoot, and he must be a good sort of person to have around if he is getting you to branch out more! And I must say, I hope this Nick is making you listen to as many rock and roll songs as he can, because maybe he can triumph where I tragically failed and make you change your stance on good music! Now, my dear Lukey, since you know that I am quite dangerously allergic to small talk, let us get right to the more interesting topics.

I received the photograph that you sent me, and you will be pleased to know that I do indeed remember the story behind it. It was your great aunt Lizzy who told me about this picture. I think it was taken in the orange orchard behind the old farmhouse. You are absolutely right, of course: the little boy in the picture is my daddy, reaching out towards the oranges hanging from all those sagging branches. And, the woman carrying him on her shoulders, and balancing aunt Lizzy on her hip, is your great grandma Becky. Daddy told me that she was the strongest woman he has ever known and could have carried a mule on her back if she put her mind to it, thought I rather think that that was an exaggeration on his part.

You know, I quite love this particular photo myself. Aunt Lizzy told me all about how the three of them went together, wandering about the orchard, plucking oranges off the trees, while great grandpa followed their strange little group around taking as many photos as he could, and ever since this photo has reminded me of every single lovely, free day that I have spent with our family.

Well, anyway, that is quite enough sentimentality for one letter! I will absolutely make sure to get back to you with those reference book recommendations, and while I am doing that you can take a chance on My Family and Other Animals by Gerald Durrell, which I am sure will serve to stoke your interest. And, as always, you can feel free to ask me about any other photographs you want to know more about!

Love,

Auntie Bea

P.S Oh, the family rule – it isn’t all that serious really, but it has been passed down through the years to all the different members of our family. It is quite simple: make sure never to lose the family album and be especially careful when it comes to leaving it lying around in the attic, because you know how untidy it gets up there. That’s all!

2023

Dear dad,

How are you? Everything’s been going pretty well here. My classes are just as okay as ever, though I think that all our teachers have started to pick their pace up a little because we’re so close to our midterms. But you know I’m not letting that get to me: last weekend Sam, mum and I spend the whole morning on the couch munching on popcorn, doing nothing, and watching reruns of our favorite sitcoms on the tele. It was really nice; wish you could’ve been there.

Listen, I didn’t really want to disturb you during your business trip, but I’ve had this on my mind for like a week now and I absolutely have to know more about it. The thing is, I was trying to clean out our attic a few days back (you know how messy it gets), and behind a box of natural history textbooks, I found this old album . . .