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Oct 7Liked by Jean Vengua

Your family letters are beautiful, thank you for sharing them. After my grandparents died in the 2000s, I found a large bag of letters. They were between my grandparents as my grandfather moved from parts of the Philippines to Germany, and then USA. I went through them similarly as you've done here. Thank you again. - Trinidad

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Thanks, Trinidad. I bet there are some fascinating stories in those letters!

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Oct 6Liked by Jean Vengua

Beautiful rumination on letters and on how your parents communicated in those years. Some of my last letter exchanges were with my father, who remained a regular letter-writer to many friends until his passing in 2011. Though we also spoke on the phone, the letters allowed him to relate something more immediate, and often more emotional. I love that you have this opportunity to recreate this timeline and that you are sharing this with us!

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Thanks, Carla -- and also for sharing that information about your father's letters!

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Love this! The envelope had the initials P. I., which many still use to this day to refer to the Philippine Islands.

Recently, we had a survey at work, and there was a box to check country of origin. I refused to answer the survey until they corrected PI to the Philippines.

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Oct 6·edited Oct 7Author

Salamat, Rachielle! I did not even notice that on the envelope.

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Jean, this post is a treasure. I loved reading about the family letters you shared from 1945, especially in light of the beautiful sense of historical context about Philippine independence. You bring letters to life! I miss the days when texture and color were part of mail and connections. Your artwork is remarkable, and it's nice to be here enjoying what you share! Thank you! Sheila

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Thanks so much, Sheila! Yes, texture is something I miss from communications. And I love that saturated red color they used in Radiograms of the 1940s.

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