February 15, 1941 (Saturday)

HENRY PENS A VALENTINE LETTER TO EDNA

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Chilly, cloudy day.

Morse + Frances went

to Lowell this A.M. - came

back for dinner.

Morse, Frances + I

went to see Jen

then went to hospital

to see Henry.

I received a valentine

letter from Henry which

upset me emotionally.

Morse, Frances + I

went to Hospital this P.M.

Henry quite upset

emotionally otherwise

feeling OK.

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Henry was a farmer and a teacher and a county road commissioner. Henry was also an author and a poet. He penned many stories and poems and wrote a history of the area surrounding Bowne Center, published in 1957, entitled The Mission of a People Within the Valley of the Little Thornapple. I have a worn and tattered reproduction. But my dad has an original copy.

The concluding paragraphs of his book illustrate his sentimentality and sensibilities. His words struck a chord with me from an early age. I high school, I selected the final paragraph from his book to publish as my senior quote in the yearbook. Those words still resonate with me today as I endeavor to refashion and record events and happenings of the past.

Edna was "upset emotionally" by Henry's Valentine letter to her. I think he was better at expressing his feelings through the written word than he was at speaking them out loud. He and Edna are both a bit worried about the outcome of his health. I imagine Henry penned a letter to Edna on this Valentine's Day that was both sensible and sentimental.