Under the Moon, In a Canoe: A 1932 Letter That Sparked a Song

My grandmother as a young woman.

In recent blogs I have talked about my dad and his influence on my writing. And I've posted a letter...a "what if" Jamie's fictional grandpa wrote her a letter.

I've spoken of how family relationships have influenced my creativity in the book series and in the tarot deck. This is my paternal grandmother. Most of the tea cups I used in The Time Travlers Tarot are hers. To say they've traveled is to put it mildly. They've traveled extensively across the US in my grandmother's possession as her husband moved often for work. With me, I moved with them back to their place of origin. Fitting.

Grandma died a few years ago and some of her things have come into my possession. One of those things is a love letter. Not from my grandpa but from someone she dated before him. The fact she held on to it all that time leaves me wishing I could ask her a question or two. But, as I've been creating music I did much as I did with my uncle's poetry. This letter isn't meant to hide in a box, forgoten. What would a love letter sound like from 1932 from a boy who is clearly smitten with my grandmother.

Have a read. Have a listen:

Camp Ahmek, Canoe Lake P.O. Ont. Mon. July 11 - 1932

Dear Marg:

If only I were "Under the Moon Talking to You About me" now, instead of just sitting in a canoe all alone under a neglected moon. Oh Marg it is beautiful up here. I can hardly describe it. Words can never do it justice. But oh girl it sure can be lonely up here. You become used to a crowd with certain social hypocrisies — if I may call them that — and it takes a long time to readjust those standards to those of camp life. So for a time I suppose I'll have to accustom myself to living up to the code and finally it will come naturally. But enough of this pessimistic philosophy. Suffice it to say that of everything I left behind, I think the girl I left behind, next to the parents, I most missed. Perhaps you could guess who this girl friend — my best pal — is.

Perhaps a little reference to my activities would not come amiss. We had a great trip up despite the fact that I only got 6 hours sleep on the train (if that). Everybody was excited and making a racket but nobody minded much. This is an ideal place for a boy to spend his summer. We get instruction in swimming, diving, canoeing, sailing, riding, boxing, wrestling, campcraft among others. As I have told you before, I am writing this in a canoe under the moon with the aid of a flashlight. I have just heard lights out on the bugle so perhaps I had better be going in. I will write soon again and please, Marg old dear, answer quickly even if it's only a line so I'll know you haven't forgotten me. Tell Fran I'll write her soon.

Lovingly, John H-

P.S. Enclosed please find an Ahmek crest.

The phrase "Under the Moon Talking to You About me" is set off in quotation marks — he's almost certainly quoting a popular song of the era, which is a sweet little flirtation embedded in the letter.

I appreciate treasures like this. They add layers to stories that fiction alone cannot create. If you find this interesting, consider subscribing so that you're notified first of new blogs. :) You can do it with the form on the About page of my website.