The Letter's to? Well.. A lot of people

I was baking brownies with my grandfather. He said to go into the pantry and get a recipe for chocolate. Chocolate? Yes chocolate. I figured I must have missed something in the ingredients so I went in and got the recipe box down.

Only problem? It was not a recipe box that I got down. Thumbing through the content of the box. I found autographed photos. Of some rather famous people. And? Letters. Several letters of people I would not have guessed my grandfather knew.

It was interesting reading Alan Alda personal letter to my grandfather. My grandfather by this time asked for the recipe card on chocolate. And I had to apologies telling him I was reading some rather old letters to him and had not gotten the right box. He laughed and went into the pantry coming out with a box similar to what I had and digging through it got the chocolate recipe card out.

So what made the difference between my grandfather's recipe and normal chocolate?

The trick was to browning half a stick of butter, and slowly pouring the coco powder into the browning butter a little at a time. then adding chocolate chips While replacing the two and half cups of sugar with brown sugar and more butter. Let's say this brownie tasted more like a chocolate cake where the cake was fluffed up and the sugary brownie taste was more of a chocolate chip dream cake.

Anyway for 30 minutes while the brownie baked. I went through the other boxes of autographs, and letters. The autograph photos accounted for a bout 535 autographs with personalized notes to my grandfather. Making me ask him more question with each autograph I read the notes.

The letters;s on the other hand seemed more than personal. It was like these people knew him. Even thought I knew he did not know these people. why do I know he did not know these people? Because my grandfather outside of reading a book. Was rather a character and being a character had not really done much with his life.

Sure he told wonderful pirate tales about Ender the pirate. And adventures with Alice in Wonderland and Ernest Hemingway. But both of the main Character Ender and the rest were fictitious. Maybe Ernest Hemingway had lived once upon a time. But he was assuredly dead prior to my grandfather's time making me believe he meaning my grandfather only lived inside his mind with the books he read.

But according tot he letters? Once he had been known as someone else once upon a time. Making me wonder about what else my grandfather had done or was doing. Meaning? Some of the letters in the box were less than a month old. Making me wonder if I had missed something?

Why?

Because outside of reading a book? I seldom saw my grandfather do anything. And these letters seemed to indicate he had a lot of pen pals from around the world..

10 minutes into the baking of the brownies - I had to ask grandfather about a lady he was corresponding with. She was rather famous. And for the world of me? I had no idea how or why or to be more specific how had the two even meet?

My grandfather laughed at the question. He had meet the lady via pen pal correspondence. Why? Because he was rather lonely and at times wanted to talk with people.

Had he watched her movies I had to ask? He laughed and said no. So? Why her I asked? Same with the other people he wrote he said. Because he could and at the heart of pen pals is the desire to talk with people.

As the brownies baked, I continued to flip through the autographed photos and letters in the boxes. The more I read, the more intrigued I became. It seemed that my grandfather had been quite the pen pal enthusiast, and he had struck up correspondences with people from all walks of life. The more I delved into these letters, the more I realized that these pen pals were not just casual acquaintances; they had become his friends, people who genuinely cared about him.

One particular letter stood out. It was from the lady I had inquired about earlier, the famous one. Her name was Eliza Montague, a renowned actress known for her captivating performances on the silver screen. In her letter, she spoke of their deep friendship, which had developed over the years through their letters. She mentioned how my grandfather's words had often brightened her loneliest days, and how she had come to rely on his wisdom and humor.

I was taken aback by this revelation. My grandfather, the man who spent most of his time lost in books and his fantastical tales, had been a source of comfort and companionship for someone as famous as Eliza Montague. He had touched her life in a way that transcended his quiet, bookish demeanor.

Grandfather explained that he had never watched her movies because he had little interest in the world of celebrity. Instead, he had chosen his pen pals based on their shared interests, hobbies, and the sincerity of their words. He told me that the heart of pen pal correspondence was the desire to connect with people, to form a genuine bond through the written word.

As the brownies finally finished baking, I couldn't help but admire the man my grandfather had been. Beyond his character of Ender the pirate and his adventures with fictional characters, he had also been a friend to real people all around the world. The letters revealed a life lived through words and connections, even if it had been a life mostly hidden from my view.

The brownies were the sweetest they had ever been, not just because of the brown sugar and extra butter but because they were now infused with the warmth of this unexpected revelation. My grandfather had led a life I had never known, one filled with friends, connections, and genuine human interaction. And it all began with a simple desire to talk with people, no matter who they were or where they came from.

As we enjoyed those brownies, my grandfather and I continued to sift through the letters and photos, discussing his pen pals and their shared stories. I realized that there was so much more to this man than I had ever imagined, and it made me appreciate the time we spent together even more. In the end, our afternoon of baking brownies had turned into a journey of discovery, not just of a secret life my grandfather had led, but of the beautiful connections that can be forged through the simple act of reaching out and sharing words with others.