Whimsical September

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When Home Decor Tells a Story: Framing My Grandparent’s Telegram

When I was visiting my parents in Alabama back in March I was able to also visit with my aunt who flew down to help care for my mom after she broke her ankle. She brought along many old family keepsakes that she’d recently found and wanted to share with my mom. She had things like old photographs, their parent’s wedding dinner menu, and old anniversary cards.
As she and I looked through the stack, one keepsake in particular caught my eye – a telegram from my grandfather to my grandmother from 1952. Unfortunately both of them passed away before I was born, so everything I know about them is through stories. 

My aunt explained that my grandfather, who was serving in the Army, was stationed in California during the Korean War and acting as basic training sergeant. Though my grandmother lived there with him for a while, she ended up moving back to New York before he did for an unknown reason.
As I held this original telegram I knew that I wanted to keep it, and my mom thankfully agreed to let me. 
Fast forward a few months and I’m finally getting around to framing it. I brought the telegram to Hobby Lobby to get a matte cut, but I quickly realized that a matte would hide some of the torn and bent edges that show its age. After looking around a bit more I decided to go with a simple, thin frame that’s meant to showcase antiques (this 8X10 was $7.99 near the framing counter). 

This piece has already become one of my favorite pieces of home decor simply because of the story it tells.

PS: My aunt’s birthday is nine months & one week after the date this telegram was sent. 🙂

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