My Dearest Jane, Fred, and family,
If you are reading this then I have finally meet my end. With any luck, I died doing something I love and didn’t linger.
If that fool solicitor has properly done his job, then all the details of the Estate are handled and you have received the delivery along with this letter. There should have been two large pallets of boxes and a lovely old desk delivered along with this letter.
I will get to the items delivered in a moment but first let me say how much I have enjoyed your company over the years. You, Jane gave me the courage to live my dreams and stop living up to the expectations of long deceased parents and loved ones. Jane, you and Fred told me to travel and enjoy the world and to not worry about leaving a large inheritance behind.
I have left behind something far more valuable than money as you will see. I have traveled all over the last twenty years, going to the small little towns and villages all over the globe. I discovered I had a talent for picking unique spots. The amazing thing about unique spots? They contain the most amazing and forgotten relics of history.
The desk is a family heirloom, the only one I kept besides the jewelry. The jewels went to the British Museum where they will be admired and cared for for generations to come. The desk however I couldn’t bequeath to a museum where it would gather dust. Please use it, love it, and pass it down through the future generations.
Now for the boxes, the true gift you and Fred gave me and the one I want to return to you both. On my travels and adventures, I found journals belonging to everyday people. Some of these journals are the mundane lives of farmers and merchants and others talk about such frivolities as Seasons and coming of Age parties. Others belong to people close to history makers, well known or otherwise.
Jane stopped reading, her mind reeling from the sheer generosity and magnitude of the gift Aunt Liza had bestowed. The desk was an amazing gift but the journals were something Jane only dreamed about finding someday.
Liza had given Jane and her family the gift of knowledge. Not the fleeting ever mutable knowledge that existed online, but the knowledge that came from living and recording events as they occurred around you. Events, big or small, that shaped the world we all live in and which is now subject to constant electronic revision. Jane was stunned by the magnitude of the gift but she continued reading.
The journals are my greatest accomplishment in life. You will find journals from distant family members, including one that documents the discovery made by William Perkin himself. My favorite journals come from small towns, the hopes and dreams contained in them are so vivid and timeless they almost transport you back to an older place and time.
I hope these journals will find a home with you and Fred and that they will become as cherished to your family as they were to me. I hope they provide a source of inspiration and background material for Pippa’s adventures as well.
In closing, know that I love you all and that I will be watching from above. Enjoy one another and never forget to say I love you. Do not mourn my passing, rather celebrate my life and the life you encouraged me to experience.
All my love, until we meet again.
Jane was sobbing. The garage wasn’t just packed to the rafters with some forgotten boxes and furniture from a beloved relative. Rather it was packed to the rafters with love and history and the hopes and dreams of people all over the world. Jane felt the burden of it all but it was small compared to the utter excitement burning within her.
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