In early 2015 I bought an old, small green diary at an auction. I started reading it right then and there, and immediately fell in love.

After reading a few weeks of the author’s story, I thought it would be fun to keep track of the names, places, and events mentioned in the diary. I wanted to keep track of who’s who and build a story with all the known pieces.

Then I thought about how there must be other people like me who would enjoy reading her story. I didn’t want to be the only one who knew her story, and I also wanted to savor it, to reveal it slowly over time.

After several months of procrastinating, I finally got this far, right here, writing this “About” page. The diary is exactly a year long, plus one full-page entry reserved as “A PAGE FOR MEMORY NOTES,” which is filled out as well. There are two days per page, and every date is filled. The pages are small (6.25″ x 4.5″), and though I wish she had had a larger space to write in, the lack of space somehow adds to the mystery.

From the first few weeks I’ve read, I’d say life as a young, single 20-21 year old in 1929 meant lots of dates and going out to movies, shows, restaurants, Sunday church, car rides (when it wasn’t too cold), and visiting friends.

I hope you enjoy the story as much as I do. But first, I’ve provided a little background into what was going on in and around Pennsylvania as 1929 got underway.