Woman Gets a Glimpse of the Past When She Finds a Love Letter From WWI in Her Attic

A woman gets a glimpse of the past when she finds a love letter from WWI in her attic. How many times have we been called to duty to clean out a loved one’s attic and then find something breathtaking out of a scene like the Titanic? Just the other day, my kids discovered the love letters my husband and I had exchanged when I was still in high school. Their reactions to their parents having a love life were one thing, but to read it tucked into history was another.

Sometimes history doesn’t live in museums. Sometimes it hides in attics, tucked beneath insulation, waiting for someone to lift it into the light again.

She Found a Love Letter From WWI

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That’s what happened when Laura Tonkin’s Durham, North Carolina, home was being renovated. A worker pulled out what looked like fragile strips of parchment and handed them to her. The edges were frayed, the ink faded, but something about it felt sacred.

“I don’t know what this is, but it’s very cool,” Laura said.

Piece by piece, she realized she was holding a love letter—written more than a century ago by a young soldier named John B. Woosley. He had been writing to a woman named Oma, the girl who would one day become his wife.

He Was Writing to His Girlfriend

“He was writing to his girlfriend, Oma. It’s a sweet letter,” Laura shared.

With a little research, she discovered John had been a first lieutenant stationed on the front lines in France during World War I. He was likely in his twenties, and yet his words carried both tenderness and the weight of war.

“You had asked about the French girls,” he joked. “I haven’t met too many, but from what I can tell, they don’t compare to Southern girls.”

The Letters Got Quite Emotional

But then the tone shifted.

“We have seen quite a bit of shell fire,” John wrote. “Artillery put eight shells right near my kitchen, within 100 to 150 yards.”

“To think about being on the front, and writing a letter at this time in history, and having to be so careful about what you say,” Laura reflected.

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The Couple Married After the War

As she continued digging, she learned John and Oma married after the war and were buried side by side at Old Chapel Hill Cemetery.

 “When we looked him up and found where his grave was, we were like, wow, he’s real, and he’s right over there,” Laura said.

No museum has asked for the letter yet, so for now, she keeps it safe—its edges worn but its love still intact.

“Far as I can tell, nobody to return it. So here it sits, for now, anyway,” Laura said.

Sometimes love outlives time. Sometimes a story waits one hundred years just to be found.

Psalm 102:18 “Let this be written for a future generation, that a people not yet created may praise the Lord.”

WATCH: Woman Gets a Glimpse of the Past When She Finds a Love Letter From WWI in Her Attic

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h/t: People

Featured Image Credit: YouTube/WRAL

Heather Riggleman is a believer, wife, mom, author, social media consultant, and full-time writer. She lives in Minden, Nebraska with her kids, high school sweetheart, and three cats who are her entourage around the homestead. She is a former award-winning journalist with over 2,000 articles published. She is full of grace and grit, raw honesty, and truly believes tacos can solve just about any situation. You can find her on GodUpdates, iBelieve, Crosswalk, Hello Darling, Focus On The Family, and in Brio Magazine. Connect with her at www.HeatherRiggleman.com or on Facebook.