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She found a grandma's heartfelt letter tucked in a book, and tracked down the recipient
By Sheena Goodyear0%
4/29/2026, 9:14:14 PM
Topics: Personal Connections
BS Summary: The article has not yet been analyzed.
When Katie Slocum found a beautiful handwritten letter tucked away in a Little Free Library book, she knew she had to track down its rightful recipient.
Slocum, a 36-year-old Washington, D.C., resident grabbed a copy of Ann Patchett's State of Wonder from a community bookshelf in her neighbourhood two years ago, then promptly put it on her shelf and forgot about it.
When she finally cracked it open earlier this year, she found a letter dated Aug. 28, 2003, written in cursive on floral stationary.
It was from a woman to her granddaughter, who she calls "My dearest Jackie," and describes as a sweet, loving person who bubbles and sparkles "like a rare vintage champagne."
"Besides the fact that I wanted to make sure that Jackie got this wonderful letter that her grandmother wrote her, I also just wanted to meet her," Slocum told As It Happens host Nil Kӧksal.
"Thankfully for me, when I did meet Jackie, I realized everything her grandmother wrote was true."
'You just don't forget a letter like that'
Slocum didn't have many clues to go by.
There was no address, no postage, and no last name.
"I didn't even know if the person who had put the book in the library was from the neighbourhood or was still around," she said.
Still, she figured the best place to start was close to home.
So she posted on neighbourhood Facebook groups and Reddit, to no avail.
Then she reached out to Dan Silverman, who runs a neighbourhood blog called PoPville under the pseudonym "Prince of Petworth."
On Feb.
27, Silverman put out the call.
Soon after, Jacqueline Roche, 38, came across it on Silverman's Instagram page.
"I came home from work exhausted on a Friday, and my usual routine on Fridays is I allow myself some social media time, and I was flipping through … and I saw this picture," she said.
"I shouted out, like, 'That's me!
That's my letter!'"
Roche's grandmother, Irene, wrote her this letter for her 16th birthday.
Roche says her grandmother Irene wrote that letter to her on her 16th birthday, and she's treasured it ever since, taking it with her everywhere she's ever lived.
It reads, in full:
"My dearest Jackie, I would like to tell you about the Jackie I know.
The day you were born, you put smiles on everyone's face.
You were just beautiful.
As you got older, we all enjoyed your performances on cue.
You even enjoyed it then.
It was centre room at that time.
When you were older, I could see the loving, caring and sweet person you were becoming.
As a teen, you bubble and sparkle like a rare vintage champagne.
You make the time anyone spends with you fun.
You give of yourself, and that's a wonderful thing.
It's a rare gift.
I know whatever life gives you, you will take with both hands and keep on dancing.
I am so proud to be your grandmother.
Love you with all my heart."
Roche teared up as she read the letter aloud, her voice catching.
"You just don't forget a letter like that."
Roche says she didn't know the letter was missing, but she thinks it must have been inadvertently placed in the book and donated to the Little Free Library when she moved out of the neighbourhood in 2022, two years before Slocum took it home.
'We found Jackie!!'
As soon as Roche saw the Instagram post, she messaged Silverman.
"We Found Jackie!!"
he wrote on his blog.
Silverman connected the two women, and they met up in the neighbourhood.
Slocum returned the letter, and the pair immediately hit it off.
"We got to have a nostalgic recollection of the times that she spent in the neighbourhood when she lived there and just talking about all of our favourite spots and all the things that we had in common," Slocum said.
The two have remained friends since.
Roche, left, and her grandmother, Irene Roche.
Roche says her grandmother, who just celebrated her 90th birthday, has been blown away by the story.
"[She] and I have been having the best time with this.
We cannot believe it," she said.
"We've had tremendous laughs and so many fun conversations about this."
Irene Roch told the Washington Post that her friends at the senior community have been equally delighted — but some have also expressed regret that they didn't write letters conveying their feelings for their own grandchildren.
"They never thought of it, you know?"
she said.
The letter is now safely home in Jackie's nightstand.
"I've placed it away from any books," she said.
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