Almost 100 handwritten letters, along with black and white photos were stored inside a small mulberry box my grandmother kept near her bedside before she passed away.
The letters, many paired with tattered postmarked envelopes, were written in Korean, Hanja/Chinese characters, and Japanese, dating back to the 1910s, the earlier years of Japan's colonization of Korea (considered part of the Japanese Empire until 1945).
They were mostly from my grandfather, while they were separated (reasons unknown for now) under the occupation. The few parts scribbled in English and Korean are quite romantic and full of young love. His affection and anticipation are so palpable. So are his carefully worded and nuanced political points of view leading up to a second world war. The combination makes unpacking their story so fascinating to me.
Thank goodness for strangers on the internet who have helped with translating. I wish I had asked my grandmother about this family heirloom so I could learn more about her life and besotted romance!
I suspect the letters were tucked away, in between bedding of an old bandaji (wooden blanket chest) for a reason. Perhaps some details that have survived long enough through the aged pages may still have been too close, too personal, and too intimate to share.
A few years after this discovery, I went on a heritage trip to retrace the steps of her story. And I got to meet her again, this time as a young woman... in a way I've never known her before.