I’ve indicated in other blogs that my grandmother and I were very close. She passed away in 1999, but her memory is just as real in my heart as her physical presence was when she was alive. When I hit upon “My Grandma, My Pen Pal,” it stirred some of those memories that are so sweet to me.
The book begins with the child’s birth. “When I was born, my grandma rocked me, sang to me, and talked to me. She lived a long car ride away, but she would come and stay sometimes. When I got older and could draw, I mailed pictures to my grandma. She loved getting them. She sent back photographs of herself holding them. She always had a big smile.”
As the book progresses, we see grandmother and granddaughter sharing more of themselves through letters. They drew pictures of their friends and of things they saw in their yards that morning. The grandmother shares pictures of when she herself was a little girl, and told stories about her life. Every year she would send seed packets, so she and her granddaughter could grow the same things in their gardens.
She asked her granddaughter to choose yarn for a sweater, and then she knit it and sent it to her. Whenever they would get together for a visit, they would share secrets and stay up late to eat dessert together in the moonlight.
If Grandma went on a trip, she would always sent postcards, and she even shared stories about her brother who was killed in the war.
Advice was given, stories were shared, Valentines were exchanged. As the girl grew older, so did her grandmother, but their relationship didn’t change.
At the end of the book, the girl has a baby of her own, and the grandmother has the chance to see a whole new life begin. Her own ends shortly after that, and the girl discovers that her grandmother kept every letter she ever sent, in a scrapbook.
This book celebrates the bonds between generations and the sweet relationships that can grow when someone takes the time to care. I truly enjoyed this book and highly recommend it, especially now when it seems harder than ever to take the time to enjoy and appreciate our elderly.
In the “About the Author,” Jan says that she has a great interest in family history and would encourage everyone to hold fast to their roots.
(This book was published in 2002 by Caroline House and was illustrated by the author.)
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