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They asked if I would be willing to scan these treasures that had remained tucked away for 70 years. As I opened the box that had safe-guarded the letters for decades, I had no idea that I was about to “meet” one of the most amazing women I will ever know.

Each one of Laura Lu’s letters contains glimpses into the heart of a mother and counsel that is just as applicable to us as it was to her children in the 1930s. I could envision her sitting down at her typewriter, carefully choosing her words of advice to each child. She shared many of her own life experiences to teach them lessons and constantly encouraged each of them to seek out opportunities for learning.

Among the many things she accomplished during her lifetime, I consider her letters to her children to be some of the most enduring. They always began with the greeting, “Dearest Children,” and contained wise counsel that lasts throughout the ages. She is immortalized in the words that she penned within these letters. They may be considered the most valuable things she left behind.

All of our mothers have countless lessons to impart to us and, in honor of Mother’s Day, it is with great pleasure that I introduce you to Laura Lu Copenhaver and share one excerpt from her letters to her children.

“Certainly, neither of you is going to make the mistake of feeling that it is easy to make a success of marriage. That such success comes without effort and sacrifice of some things customary and dear to individual life. I remember that the only advice my mother gave me was when I kissed her goodbye for my honeymoon trip. ‘Remember that if your marriage is not a success it will be your fault.’ I did not think any more highly then of my mother’s superior wisdom then, than you two do of your mother’s superior wisdom, but although it is not true that either member of the partnership is responsible more than the other for failure, it may be a good thing for each one to assume in his or her own mind the idea of larger responsibility.”

A Mother’s 3 Maxims for a Happy Marriage

Just as she passes along her mother’s marital wisdom to another generation, she adds her own counsel to that of her mother. Laura Lu believes that the combined wisdom of two generations of women will serve to guide her son and new daughter-in-law on their journey through married life:

“Here are three maxims for you that I do believe are important:

“Do not be concerned about the world’s attitude to you, but about your attitude to the world. That is, do not worry over whether you are treated with respect or appreciation. Do not demand love but be grateful for the privilege of loving. Be really interested in other people, honestly if you can. If you can’t, pretend an interest, just to help make the world run more smoothly. I do not think either of you need this advice, but perhaps you might become so absorbed in yourselves that you might entirely forget about my liver and arteries—and that would be a tragedy.”

Perhaps some of Laura Lu’s most interesting advice had to do with the role of in-laws in marriage. She felt strongly that a married couple should have certain boundaries when it came to permitting others to have opinions on the manner in which they chose to navigate their new family’s life. It was imperative that they be allowed to make decisions and have opinions, without fear of someone else’s judgment—even if that judgment came from a relative or close friend. She interjects a bit of humor in this touchy subject of how to deal with well-intentioned in-laws.

“The most precious thing about living is having your own way—in some small sphere only, it may be, but somewhere all your own where you let yourselves go and do and say what comes from inside you. Call it self-expression, if you like that misused old word, but it is a sacred place into which you must not let anyone but your two selves intrude. I am speaking particularly of relatives and officious friends who would, if they could, map out your lives for you. Mothers-in-law are the worst of all, so statistics prove. Keep us out by any fair means and, if fair means will not work, use any sort of strategy, even force if necessary. Put us in homes for the aged, but never, never offer us the shelter of your own roof. Fathers-in-law have been known to live peaceably and unobtrusively in their children’s homes, but never mothers-in-law. So perhaps it is just as well that you are starting out in Alaska, where neither of your mothers can come to interfere with your life. Of course, we may visit you for a week or a month at a time, but no longer and do not visit us for longer than a month.

The third thing is one about which I have small hope of being listened to:  the place of the Church in your new life. If you have any good substitute, that is all right, but I do not know of a decent substitute.”

How many mothers-in-law would caution their son’s new wife to maintain a safe distance, even by using “force, if necessary?” Laura Lu had the unique ability to offer counsel, with complete sincerity and honesty. She recognized their individuality and, selflessly, put their happiness and welfare above her own. She sought to encourage and inspire them–and not become a stumbling block to their aspirations. This self-sacrificing quality is evident in her letters. It is the attribute that endeared her to me, as I eagerly read each page of counsel from her. 

Laura Lu passed away just two months after writing this letter: on December 18, 1940. 

“What a book she might have written”

Laura Lu’s life was always busy with a project. She actually commented to her children that “you children in after years can say, ‘What a book she might have written if only she had been vouchsafed a little time.’” She might not have realized it at the moment, but she was writing a book of her very own, with the heartfelt letters she was typing to her children. A 500-page book of letters that still guides her family today.

Meeting Laura Lu through the lens of her letters inspires me to search for ways I might preserve wisdom for my own daughters and granddaughters—wisdom they might draw upon someday when they find themselves marrying, and then eventually looking into the eyes of their own newborn children. In that moment and all the moments that follow, I hope they will feel the collective strength of the generations of mothers who preceded them.