Ever tuck something away for safe keeping only to forget about it for a time? 

It could be spring bulbs popping up in unexpected corners of the garden.  A photograph of a long-forgotten event. A twenty dollar bill in a hidden purse pocket.  A special scripture that speaks to your heart.  Or maybe a abandoned childhood pleasure like a bike ride in the sunshine. 

Rediscovery can be a bit thrilling.   

In the fall of 1952 a young man received some letters from his sweetheart. 

Long before the days of cell phones, email and instant communication, her letters spoke sweet words of affection, descriptions of her daily activities, and dreams for the future.

Almost daily they came. He opened them carefully. Read them. Then added each one to the growing collection, tying them neatly with a string.

Letters this special couldn’t be left just lying around for prying eyes of friends and roommates, they needed to be tucked away somewhere they would be safely out of view. A low ceiling with removable tiles provided just the spot where they would be out of sight but easily accessed when it was time to reread those sweet words or add a new letter to the stash. It was a perfect hiding place.

Maybe it was a little too perfect. They were so well hidden it would be about fifty years before these letters would leave their hiding place.

Why were they left behind?

Did the little romance run its course? Did she tire of writing and find a love closer to home? Did another gal catch his eye and his heart, pushing out memories of the hidden letters? Or maybe he found separation from the letter writer to be so painful that he just packed up one day and returned to claim her, replacing the paper with flesh and blood?

Finding the forgotten.  It has provided a thrilling little mystery to capture my  imagination. 

Blessings,