Not all love is spoken. Some stays sealed forever.
In 1952, at the height of his fame, Hank Williams was touring the South. While staying in Shreveport, Louisiana, he met Clara May, a young nurse who cared for his ailing mother. They met only a handful of times, but the connection was undeniable.
Clara once told a friend:
“He talked like he’d known me forever.”
In September 1952, Hank wrote her a 4-page letter describing the loneliness of the road, how the brighter the stage lights shone, the darker it felt backstage. He invited her to Nashville someday — not to a concert, but to hear him sing in an empty room.
The letter was never sent. It was found in Hank’s coat pocket after his death on January 1, 1953, in the back of a powder-blue Cadillac.
⏳ After the unsent letter…
Clara left Shreveport and never married. She worked in hospitals until retirement. When she passed away in 1998, the letter — now yellowed — was found in her nightstand, alongside an unused ticket to one of Hank’s shows.
A friend recalled:
“She never opened it. She wanted to keep it just as he wrote it.”