52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks Week 6 Prompt - Valentine

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks

Week 6

Prompt – Valentine

I remember Valentine's Day in my grade school.   We made special decorated boxes to receive our classmate's valentines.  It was fun.  Fast forward to Valentine's Day of my children.   We would buy a box of valentines and then sit down with my children and their class list provided by the teacher. At that time you had to give everyone in their class a valentine because no child could be left without them. The teacher really wanted them to be filled in by the students as a practice writing exercise.   It was painful to sit with my children who were in kindergarten and grade 2 and help them address their valentines.  There was so much whining and they wanted to do anything but this.  And being the good mother I was, we left it to the night before it needed to be done.  Not so much fun.

Many years later it is just a fond memory.

Bill's maternal grandmother, Ida Jahnke; nee Bachmann had a postcard collection from her teen years.   I figure that must be about 1912 based on the fact that most of her other dated postcards are from that time.  These postcards are beautiful.  I found one Valentine postcard among her collection.   I would love to figure out who it was from and what it said.  However it was written in German.  Not only German but what I figure is the Old Script German writing, called Suterlin writing.  There are very few people still alive who can translate this writing. (Hitler banned this writing in 1941 in Germany).  I do make out that it was addressed to Ida Bachmann.  The content of the note and who gave her the Valentine is undecipherable.  It would be so cool to get it translated, but for now I enjoy making up all the scenarios that could be written to Ida Bachmann by her Valentine.

 

 

Wendy