For years I've had a treasure: virtually all of the letters my mom and dad wrote back and forth during WWII.

During the war, everybody on the home front wrote letters to not only their own family and friends, but any other service person who needed or wanted a pen pal. Mom's brother was in the Navy, and asked her to write to his buddy. So she did. This was in 1942.

For the next few months, they wrote back and forth maybe once a month. She was engaged to be married, and he was engaged to a girl back home. (They were from different parts of the country). By the end of 1944, the letters got more and more frequent.

In the spring of 1945, Dad stopped to see his buddy, Mom's brother, and meet Mom and her family on his way through by train to New England from California, on leave. He stayed about 24 hours.

As the next few months went by, the letters got a little mushier. He asked if he could stop to see her when he got another leave, November 30. He brought a diamond ring with him (the one I'm now wearing). She said yes, and they married on December 6. They barely knew each other...except by their letters. The marriage only lasted 53 years.

I'm now reading the letters for the first time. I don't think I'll read the ones they wrote after they were married. The ones a few weeks before the wedding are pretty smoochie, and I don't want to read anything that they likely wouldn't have wanted anyone to see. But it's been awesome to get to know them as they were back then, and watch as they started as pen pals, then became friends, then fell in love.

I just lurve that story, Blessings..

What a treasure you have, B2Y! I'd keep those letters in a fire/waterproof safe. They're invaluable.

Did anybody, besides me, keep old letters from boyfriends/girlfriends? I wouldn't call them love letters, some were, but mostly just friend letters. What fun, going back over those letters from the late 50s/60s..

I found an old briefcase that belonged to my Dad. My sister and I looked through it when she was here last month visiting. What a walk back in time!

My Dad had saved old correspondence from his job. Everything had a carbon copy....and some even had the carbon paper in between the sheets! Some of his expense reports were in there and gas was .29 a gallon then!! There were entries for pay phone expenses, too!! I guess he had to stop and use a pay phone if he wanted to make a phone call.

It was amazing the stuff we found. Receipts from a trip he made in 1969 to Sweden. And handwritten pay stubs!