What can the Past tell you about the Future?

I have always loved stories from the past.
 Even as a kid, I had a wild imagination and
 loved to imagine people who had
 great or terrible adventures.....
all from things such as an unpaid electric bill stuck in the bricks of a fireplace mantle.....
or a letter left unanswered.

I was absolutely sure,
 back when I was eleven or twelve, 
that some poor relation of mine had met his demise at the hands of a ruthless 
kidnapper or somesuch.  

Kindred Spirits- A Century Apart

I love to read.  

Books.  

Mostly biographies and journals.  

I am not typically a journal writer myself. 

 Yet, if given the option 

between a journal and/or a collection of letters

 or the latest fiction, 

I will choose the journal and letters every time.