November 1923. Grace Means Letter to My Uncle Bob

My grandmother Harriet’s cousin Grace lived in NYC far from Downeast Maine, never married and had no children of her own. It is obvious that she adored Harriet’s children, Warren  born in Oregon, Robert and my mother Louise born in Machias, Maine. In 1923, Warren was fifteen years old, Robert was five and Louise was almost four. Charles is two, the son of Harriet’s sister Elsie who lived with her parents William and Nellie Means at 24 Broadway after a failed marriage.

That year, Grace was struggling financially but she was sending gifts for the children. She had a story and some fine advice for little Robert.

It reminds me how important “old-fashioned” letters are in a family. And it is a reminder that I need to write letters to my six grandchildren more often. And talk on Skype to the four grands that live in other States and visit once every summer. Time is fleeting…

I don’t have a photograph of Uncle Bob as a child. But he was a handsome man. Robert Means Johnson, at graduation from Machias High School in 1936.