Hundreds of love letters written by a newlywed couple separated by the Second World War have been discovered in an attic in Northern Ontario.
Gregory and Sarah Coombs were having work done on their Huntsville, Ont. home when a contractor made the discovery last week.
The paper has yellowed and become brittle over the decades, but the words have kept their tenderness to paint a picture of young love.
“Those nice mornings we had in Barrie when I would get up rather grumpy and sneak downstairs without my shoes after I’d kissed you good morning,” wrote former Lt. William Copping in a snippet of one of the letters.
Copping penned the letter in small cursive script to his wife Marion while stationed overseas in 1944.
“He says: ‘My dearest Marion Happy 16-month anniversary to you,’ so they were newlyweds and he was swept away and here she is reading his words of complete adoration and it probably breaks her heart to be away from him,” Sarah told CTV News.
"My heart melted and I knew that we had to preserve these."
William and Marion did reconnect and lived into their 90s after having three children.
“Soldiers knew their letters were censored so there wasn't anything super personal just how they felt for each other,” Gregory added.
It’s not known how the letters ended up in the attic, but the Coombs are now searching for any descendants of the wartime couple whose love lasted a lifetime.