Letter from Leona
Leona was known to me as "Granny", my paternal Grandmother. I have many fond memories of our thirty-four years together, and during those years, she would often say to me, "I love you so good," and "Bless your sweet Heart." I recently came across a hand-written letter from her that I am sharing with you. It is, for me, a treasure.
In an article for the NYT entitled "The Case for Handwritten Letters", Elizabeth Passarella wrote, "Research shows that writing by hand lights up multiple parts of your brain — areas that are associated with creativity, memory and your senses — in a way that emailing does not." “And letters can be comforting, tangible memories for loved ones when you’re gone, said Emily Johnston, an assistant teaching professor of writing studies at the University of California, Merced. “We are less likely to remember someone through their digital footprint,” she explained.”
For context to Leona's letter, Granny and Papaw Woliver retired to a nearly twenty acre property located in the foothills of the Smoky Mountains in East Tennessee. The terrain was hilly and included a creek lined with a few Paw Paw and walnut trees, two pastures, two garden spots, an orchard, and a vineyard of Scuppernong grapes. Buildings included a small 1000 sq. ft. "shack" (as Granny called it), a garage/smoke house, an outhouse/privy, a barn, and a chicken coup. They lived a simple and self-sustaining lifestyle supported by a small railroad pension and a faith built upon religious doctrines of the Southern Baptist Church.
Ern and Leona's "shack" on Bud King Road
Here is the letter from Leona:
Leona lives in my heart.
CPW
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