Caroline Fleur de Lys had a long history of writing letters. As a young woman living with her family in Nyon (Switzerland) she kept up regular correspondence. Caroline had a fondness for postcards and became a collector. She had a large collection established before she immigrated to Canada and brought them all with her to Montreal and then to Canoe Point.
Postcards were sent back and forth between people on a daily basis. People would use a postcard to announce their arrival at a friend's home later on that same day. Mail delivery was three times a day and people could rely on their messages being received in a timely fashion.
Caroline was a dedicated supporter of Esperanto. Esperanto was developed during the period of 1877-1885 by L.L. Zamenhof of Warsaw, Poland. Esperanto, which means a "person who is hoping", was developed with the intention of becoming a common language which Zamenhof believed would resolve many of the problems that lead to strife and conflict. He felt that the major languages at the time could not be used as they would give their native speakers an advantage and the "dead" languages, Latin and Greek, were too complicated to learn. Esperanto had the advantage in that it was a neutral language lending itself to be able to be the property of everybody, and that it was easy to learn.
Caroline had an active correspondence with other people learning Esperanto as a means of practicing the language. People supporting Esperanto believe that language inequality gives to communicative inequality. The use of Esperanto as the official international language would allow for democratic communication and a world without borders, where every country is home.
A postcard written in Esperanto, dated 1909.
A Person who is Hoping
The use of Esperanto will bring
hope, truth, unity.
Let rest the other words, the sticks and stones,
simply rest.
With that will come immeasurable peace.
Children are leaving, the chickens are coming home to roost.
The language is a splinter in the heart, hurting who?
Not me, I hold each moment close to heart, deep in love.
I know,
precious time is marching, each breath could be the last.
We have thrown open windows, door, gates.
We have nothing now, but happiness.
and that we will share.
Monday, January 3, 2011
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