LIVERPOOL, England, Jan. 1 (UPI) -- A former British soldier has received a series of letters sent by his mother during World War II, the Times of London reported Saturday.
The letters, written by Ken McKernan's estranged mother, Maude, were found in a dusty box by a Dutch museum curator. In the letters, his mother made pleas for a reconciliation.
McKernan, now 79, said the letters, if they had arrived on time, could have changed his life. "When I opened the folder, the first thing I saw was the words 'My darling son.' It brought tears to my eyes and was so hard to read."
"When I did not receive any mail from my mother I presumed she'd forgotten about me. I was quite bitter about it," he said. "If only I'd known, I would definitely have gone to join her in America. My life could have been a totally different story."
McKernan and his mother were reunited in the 1970s, when she returned to Britain.
"It is heartbreaking to read my mother's words from all those years ago," McKernan said. "It has given me some peace to know that she was thinking about me."
