The Golden Thread

What happened to Suzanne? Did she pass on with no loved ones left, or enter a nursing home? Were her belongings sold at an estate sale? I never met her, but I know she carefully saved the mementos of her high school years and of her engagement and marriage, each birthday, holiday and wedding anniversary cards for fifteen years of marriage. She was born in 1920 in Illinois, and graduated from high school in 1938. From her photos, she was quite plain, and wore thick glasses. She was engaged to John at 19, and married at 21. Her wedding was large, attended by 175 friends and relatives. She received numerous wedding and shower gifts, all meticulously recorded on sheets of onion paper. That year, 1941, her new husband went off to war. She never had children.

This I know from going through the two scrapbooks full of cards, photos and mementos that I bought at an antique store, with the idea of using the ephemera contained in them in art projects. As I deconstructed the scrapbooks, I couldn't help but wonder and reflect on her life. The destruction of her carefully glued and arranged mementos caused a twinge, as if I were violating her privacy in some way. But, I reasoned, her life was probably over, and at least I would be bringing bits and pieces of her past back to life.

The greeting cards document the styles, social mores and designs of the late 1920s through the early 1950s. They are lovely, and vaguely familiar. I was a young girl in the 1950s, and I can recall the fonts, colors and themes of those days. There are also telegrams, bridge score sheets, paper school memorabilia and dance cards and calling cards featuring themes of the day.

I purchased the scrapbooks in 2005, and I have yet to make use of the cards. I have to get past my wondering what happened to this stranger. When I bought those books and learned a bit about her existence, it was as if a golden thread attached my life to hers.