Henrietta's Journal

"Delighted is how I describe my reaction to Ron Celano's "Henrietta's Journal". Henrietta was a beautiful woman, physically and inwardly. She was naive and sincere. She was a product of the pre-WW II south, where girls were raised to be ladies and subservient. It was the time of awakening of the world we were thrown into post 1941 where we learned to stand on our own two feet. She handled herself and her situation of being thrust into faraway places and unfamiliar customs with grace and style. I believe she only becomes aware of this when she is asked to journal her life experiences by her granddaughter over some 80 years later.

 

Then after her death her son reads Henriette's Journal and discovers a women he did not know. This woman was his mother who revealed feelings and thoughts to him - in a way he never expected. He only knew her in a one dimensional way - as mother - this was a totally new way of seeing the woman who loved and nurtured him.

 

This peek into Henrietta's Journal has made me want to sit down and pen my own journal to be experienced after my time has passed. I would love to think my children and grandchildren would learn who I really am.

 

By his research and many notes Ron was able to put together a new view of Henrietta's life through her journal for those who are left behind. "-Budman