Meghan Coomes Hagedorn grew up listening to the tender stories about her grandparents’ romance. A few years ago, she had the idea to create something really beautiful and memorable, which would symbolize their story. She created a line of jewellery out of their love letters, each piece warm and replete with their love.
Credit: Meghan Coomes Hagedorn
When Thomas met Agnes, in the 1940’s, he was still in High School. Thomas Hagedorn was soon deployed overseas during WW2. The couple, deeply in love, communicated their feelings for each other through their letters. Thomas even wrote in code to keep her updated where he was.
Even though they were so young, they kept up their relationship by writing every day for 3 years 3 months & 4 days during WW2.
Meghan who lives in Charlotte, North Carolina, with her husband told PEOPLE, “Having heard that, while growing up, I became very fond of the story.”
In 2010, while travelling extensively as a TV producer, she started to yearn for her family.
“I asked my grandma if I could take some of her love-letters to create forever pieces of jewellery, so that I could always have them near when I travelled,” she said. That’s how it started.
Credit: Meghan Coomes Hagedorn
Meghan used pieces of the love-letters, and set them into a ring for her grandmother to wear, and began by making copies of the hundreds of other letters. She created her own line of Jewellery called Forever Yours, Agnes.
The jewellery line is called ‘Forever Yours, Agnes’ because that’s how Meghan’s grandmother signed every letter to the love of her life.
Credit: Meghan Coones Hagedorn/facebook
“I only used the original letters for a few pieces, everything else I had copied.”
Credit: Meghan Coones Hagedorn/facebook
Thomas and Agnes were married June 16, 1945. Thomas Hagedorn died at the age of 80 in 1999. Agnes Hagedorn died December 2014, age 95. But their love-letters still speak.
“My grandma said she never thought anybody would be interested in old love-letters, but it brought her much delight as she revisited the past, which happened 70 years ago. It was wonderful sharing with my grandmother such precious memories. It was a joy to do that with her,” said Meghan.
“They had a special bond, and they wrote so beautifully, so poetically, so passionately, one feels as if one is looking into their hearts when reading them,” she said.
Agnes sealed all of her letters with a kiss. Revlon’s red and pink lipstick. The color has ever faded. Thomas signed his … “with an ocean of love and a kiss on every wave.”
Credit: Meghan Coones Hagedorn/facebook
Credit: Meghan Coones Hagedorn/facebook
Credit: Meghan Coones Hagedorn
Meghan has incorporated her grandparents’ devotion to each other into her own marriage. “I created cufflinks for my husband with pieces of our wedding vows in them, and also love-letters from college days.”
Meghan Coomer Hagedorn with her husband Matt.
Hagedorn has taken her jewellery overseas to spread love and peace to the people of Nepal, after the tragic earthquake.
“I read that the Nepali people feel that the world has forgotten about them, since tourism–which is their main source of income–has plummeted. So, I decided to have friends write out ‘The World Loves You’ in Nepali” Hagedorn posted on her Facebook.
“I then turned them into necklaces that I would later give away to those I encountered who touched me in some way,” she said.
On her travels she would create ‘Thank You’ necklaces. “A simple note in simple handwriting can be so meaningful,” said Meghan.
The timelessness of love is a treasure forever. Watch this beautiful love story, turned into wearable jewellery here:
