I received a lovely letter in the mail along with “two bits of nostalgic ephemera” for my collection. The following is an excerpt from Virginia’s letter:

…There are lots of emotional ties to so much! Handwriting on a card can tug at the heart. Bill’s Mama had a very distinctive handwriting and I still have padded mailing envelopes with that familiar writing on them! (I do recycle such mailers, but those particular ones tend to remain.) Does this give you insight into why some relatively normal persons hang onto stuff? I have trouble emptying my closet of some remaining garments that I sewed. I used to give them to a good friend, my size, but she has moved to Texas. Oh, and there are advertising items from my Daddy’s business in Atlanta. So many things are reminders. I don’t get all teary and emotional, but there are things that tug at the heart . .  .