Among the heirlooms given to my by my Grandma Earle there is a small box.
The box is pretty beat up but it contained 2 handkerchiefs. One of the handkerchief is now missing. Well, not really missing; my sister took it sown inside her wedding gown as her "something old."
This box was sent by my grandfather, Edwin M. Earle (August 20, 1925 - June 21, 2000), to his mother, Ethel Losee-Earle (February 14, 1896 - May 27, 1960) in April 1944.
At the time my grandfather was stationed in San Francisco as part of the U.S. Navy in a special CB detachment. CB is the abbreviation for Construction Battalion.
Until my sister sowed one of the handkerchiefs inside her wedding gown, it appears as though they had never been used. Now the unused one remains in the box, in a bag, in a drawer, safe and sound.
I'm sure they are not worth much. I doubt my grandfather paid very much for them. But I suspect they meant an awful lot to Ethel, and they mean an awful lot to me and my sister. One memory I have of my grandfather is that he always carried a handkerchief.
In another box given to me, there is an Easter card, again sent by my grandpa sent to his mom, Ethel.
On the inside is is simply signed by my grandpa, "Your Sailor Son."
On the back of the card my great grandmother, Ethel, recorded a bit of family history in her very legible, pretty penmanship. She provided me with dates of events that for many years I could not confirm with military documentation of any kind. These kinds of "journals" or "notes" about family history are incredibly valuable to a genealogy researcher and I thank her sincerely in my heart and my records.
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