Story Time Friday: Discovering A Hidden Family Secret That Opens More Curiosities & Treasures

It was a typical Sunday at Grandma’s house. The parents and grandparents got up early and made breakfast, a feast for the family. Though it was a feast with a time table.

Eat up and then get dressed and get to church on time at 9AM.

Unlike the Saturday morning breakfast where there was no demand on the clock or when it would end.

This was a crunch time experience.

Yet today, there was something different wafting through the air and it wasn’t the pleasant aroma of freshly made pancakes. But it did create a curiosity that would carry with me all day.

We returned home after a long and tedious sermon about the Be Attitudes. It did more to incite a sense of fear on all that was wrong in the world and how our country’s culture was going to hell.

Strange enough for a message from the pulpit to not give us direction for how to feel more of GOD in our everything life, we trudged to our rooms to change clothes and get ready for lunch.

And that’s when I saw it.

On a table in the corner of the bedroom I was staying in sat an old notebook pressed against the wall. There was a part of the wallpaper that was torn and seemed to have a crease in it. Like the wallpaper had been stretched out in some unnatural way.

Grandma is meticulous about her spaces and the way things looked. I moved towards the table and the wall to investigate. And to attempt to mend the tear or repair the façade of the wall.

I didn’t want to be blamed for it since I was the one staying in this room. That would come with harsh consequences.

As I listed the notebook to see how big the tear or crease was, a series of old photographs dropped out of it.

They were black and white. One was of my grandpa in his navy blues during the war, smiling on a ship docked by what looked like a small island.

Another was a picture of my grandma wearing some kind of tiara. Or was it a crown?

I opened the notebook.

It was an old photo album, or what appeared to be one. There were a series of letters in it addressed to my Grandma, or at least to her first name.

I didn’t recognize the last name written beside it. The writing was in cursive and very old fashioned and kinda hard to decipher the words. But it seemed as though it was written by someone other than either of my grandparents.

There were envelopes in the notebook that contained a series of letters or notes.

But what did the photographs mean?

In the third letter was a mention of a marathon romance, how they’d known each other since birth and had been betrothed since before they were born.

Yet the intended recipient of these messages refused to do their duty and marry like they were supposed to.

But the massive secret was revealed in a note written on a crumped piece of paper sent as a reply. Was this note returned to her by mail or crumpled upon delivery and refused to be accepted, so it was given back to her?

I wouldn’t know for sometime. But the note told a very powerful story that I’d never heard before.

My Grandma was a princess and heir to a large fortune that she’d receive upon marrying this baron and author of these notes. But she didn’t want to marry for money.

She wanted to marry for Love.

And no crown would she swap for true, healthy, and Loving commitment.

Tucked into the pages were notes written by my Grandma explaining why she wouldn’t marry this man. She talked about meeting my Grandpa and how he was everything she’d ever dreamt.

She said that if the baron had any respect for her, he would understand her desire to join with someone for life-long commitment for the right reasons and not out of duty.

She wished him the best and hoped he found happiness. But she was leaving the island and wouldn’t return.

Suddenly my sister came into the room, demanding to know why I hadn’t come to lunch yet. The family was waiting on me.

I pointed to the notebook and held it out to her.

Lunch and family could wait just a little while longer.

— A New Beginning —

• This story was created from the Write Your Story journal I have. The title was given as A Family Mystery Uncovered and I had to include the words Sunday, secret, wallpaper, swap, sister, curiosity, island, notebook, marathon, and demand

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About Me: Hi, I’m D Grant Smith, The Growth Farmer of Personal Development Through the Lens of Spirituality and Storytelling.

I help people transform their lives by rewriting their inner narrative (self-concept) to live the story of your dreams.

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