“WWI Soldier’s Mother’s Day Letter Resurfaces After Over a Century”

A heartfelt Mother’s Day letter written by an American soldier over 100 years ago reached the granddaughter he never met, in Beaverton, Oregon. Jan Bellis-Squires, the granddaughter of Carl Howe, received the letter in the last week of April, just in time for Mother’s Day, shared USA Today. Carl Howe wrote the letter to his mother in France in 1919, a year after the First World War ended. MyHeritage purchased the letter for $150 and worked hard to find the soldier’s family so that they could return the letter to its rightful owners.

Finding the Letter –
The story of finding the letter is quite inspiring. The Director of Research at MyHeritage, Roi Mandel, was surfing eBay when he came across the vintage letter, which was up for auction at $150. MyHeritage then purchased the letter and worked relentlessly to track down Howe’s family.

The Love for Mother –
The letter expressed the young soldier’s love for his mother and his longing to return home to her. The letter was written a day before Mother’s Day in 1919 in northwestern France by Carl Howe stating how he would have loved to surprise her on Mother’s Day but, since he couldn’t, he expressed his love in a letter. He wrote, “Not an hour of the day goes by but what I think of you, and thoughts of you, and the much good advice you have always given me has always been a bright star for me to follow. And I shall always have those little visions and nothing in the world of bright guiding light that it is to me.” Howe also added that he wouldn’t have written such emotions in the letter if it wasn’t a letter for Mother’s Day.

Importance of Letter –
Roi Mandel of MyHeritage said, “The moment we found this very personal letter, of a soldier writing to his mother on Mother’s Day, from the battlefield − hoping to return home soon − we felt that we had to do everything to return it to his descendants. It will be passed on to future generations.” The letter doesn’t have any materialistic value, but it has sentimental and historical value, he said. The letter is a living testament to the love a son felt for his mother when he was fighting a war in a foreign land. It is exciting to imagine what other stories of heroism might be hidden in family possessions.

Importance of Family –
The story of the letter also highlights the importance of family and how it values the sentimental and personal memories. We often tend to overlook the importance of small things or tend to discard old family possessions. However, events like these remind us how much these treasures mean to us. Jan Bellis-Squires demonstrates this when she said, “This is just a treasure for me to be able to see the handwriting and read the replaces that my grandfather, whom I never knew, wrote to his mother on Mother’s Day…By all accounts, he was a brilliant, kind man, and I dearly wish I could have known him.”

Conclusion –
We should reflect on the values imparted by our forefathers and ancestors. We should try to hold on to some of their memories, family possessions, and try to pass them on to future generations. We create our history every day, and it’s essential to hold on to our roots. This Mother’s Day letter serves as a reminder that love transcends time and generations.