February 21, 1944
My dearest sweetheart,
I did well today. Received three letters from you, sweet, those of 10 and 11 Feb. and v-mail of the 12th, also, a letter from Syd, one from brother Ed and one from Gloria.
I have very little comment to make on your letters, sweet. They were a great source of relaxation and contentment and made me feel all warm inside. “Turn over please.” (I'll hit you!) I called Dot to straighten her out on the letter situation. Snuff got his 1-A on Saturday, so it won't be long now. Harold hasn't been well either. Having the same trouble as Adele.
Last night Adele’s fever soared to 103° and I decided to call Doctor Gayl first thing in the morning. I have him come to the house to examine her. This morning her temperature was 101-1/2. I woke the Doc at 7:45 and he said he would be here sometime during the morning. I had a terrible night, getting up every hour and a half or so. Guess I don't have to tell you how I felt this morning. Nevertheless, the Doc came about 11:30. Adele’s temp. had dropped to 99°—or just about normal. He asked me to bring her down. He hadn't seen her for almost 3 months and his comments were as follows: “My, but she's grown and so nicely, too. She's just right now (meaning weight. He dislikes chubby babies—that is—overly chubby as Adele once was). And she is so pretty! Your daddy just ought to see you now.” He couldn't stop raving. His diagnosis: Teething (very bad—all gums swollen to almost double) and a cold. He said the fever usually accompanies such difficult teething, and that I must accustom myself to the idea. (I am—but I called the Doc to satisfy everyone else.) He said it would be a few days before she is normal and I'll have to “string along.” He only charged me $2 instead of the usual $3 per home visit. He advised me to follow my present course of treatment: cough syrup (it's a raspberry mixture that she likes), nose drops, aspirin, niter, to rub her gums, and an enema when needed. Adele looked at him and said “hm,” as if to say “who the deuce are you?”
When I put Adele to sleep (her afternoon nap), I dashed to Broad Street to mail your package. I couldn't find the time to mail it and made up my mind to do it today without fail. I'm almost out of air-mail envelopes and when I asked for them while at the P.O., I was told that they are not printed anymore and could only be obtained from those P.O.s that now have them on hand. From there I proceeded to the bank, whereupon I bought $100 bond with the $75.
In a letter to the folks received today, Ed said that he would be unable to see you (you probably have heard from him yourself), and I doubt very much if he will continue to be stationed in England. His APO—230 is a new one to me. I never heard of an APR beginning with a two heretofore.
Syd told of a terrific snowstorm they had had in Italy and said he still doesn't know how their tents survived it. I had asked him about a furlough to the States, as he has served over 18 months overseas and he has no hopes whatsoever. He told me not to believe what I see in the newspapers unless it is an act of Congress and then to be doubtful.
Gloria wrote that Jack has some forty odd dollars to send her and is experiencing difficulty in sending it. He suggested to her that she withdraw some of their savings and buy herself a diamond ring. He sure is practical? I know Gloria saving her allotment $50 per month and all that she can manage from her $30 (clear) per week. Jack has promised send her money, too. She told me that the least they save is $100 per month, which isn't bad at all. I doubt, though, whether they have more than about $1200 and since they have to open house and want to have a child immediately, that won't go very far. I think Jack is still very young and dreamy, as even Glo said she thought it highly impractical at this time, not to mention the sky high prices on diamonds.
Don't ask me why I write all this. You know why—it takes up room and makes a longie. Isn't that what you want? Incidentally, I'm glad you like the new stationery. Whaddya mean “ration you to one sheet a day”? Even if I run out of sheets and still have envelopes I can use plain white paper. I have almost 300 sheets and 150 envelopes on hand—three orders. I don't like to use it when I'm writing an unusually long letter, as it weighs too much out and the postage would be too high. Mom can’t understand why you want me to send so much candy when you know full well that you get a heartburn with each piece.
Sorry to hear Red was back in the hospital and sincerely hope he is all well by the time this reaches you. England doesn't seem to agree with him as I see it.
I'm wondering if you made the trip to London on the 17th, only to be disappointed once more, or whether Ed’s letter reached you before then.
Men with two and three children are being pulled up in the draft of late and males are becoming “mails only.”
The weather was lovely today and if you smelled real hard you could smell Spring coming. It doesn't get dark until almost 8 and I find myself wanting you more each evening. As we near our 7th month of separation, I find it harder and harder to be alone. Since I saw Jack N., I've been “remembering” too often and it's more than I can take at times. I know that I will never accustom myself to be without you. How can I, when I'm part of you? I miss you more with each second, minute, hour, day, week, and month, and love you more deeply. Oh, Phil, darling, it hurts so much! Last year we wrote of our hopes to be together on our third anniversary and here we are further apart. I'm almost afraid to write in connection with our fourth, not so much that I'm afraid to hope, because I feel we won't. Perhaps we will be together in ’45 and I don't know what I'll do if we aren't. Phil——
This isn't going to do either of us any good, so I'll sign off now, sweet. I am
Your Eve
February 21, 1944
Dear Phil,
I realize that I haven't written for some time, but you really must excuse the oversight.
By now, you probably know that my family and I were out to see your family. I must confess once more that your daughter is really something to be proud of. Of course, as far as boys are concerned, my son is tops.
We really had a very pleasant day. Adele wasn't quite herself as she is cutting teeth as Ev probably told you.
My mother was up at my aunts in Oak Lane so she stopped over too. My cousin and his wife picked us up at 7:15 P.M. and took us to 36th and Market.
The weather here has really been “sompin.” Last week we had snow and today it was like summer. I had the baby out on a sled and he really enjoyed himself.
I'm waiting to get a fairly good picture of the baby to send you. The last two letters I received from you are dated Sept. 21st and Jan. 23rd. Nothing in between. I've just called my mother's and said you wrote 4. Page 2 letters in-between. Ev just called my mother’s and said you wrote four letters in between.
Please Phil answer this letter right away and send me a request. I have about 14 boxes of gum and some candy to send you. Please let me know if there is anything else you need.
You probably notice that I'm overdoing myself in this letter. I'm just getting into practice. Snuff received his 1-A and I want to get into the habit of newsy letters.
The paper continuously has articles to write V-mail to the boys overseas and that is why you get them from me. Of course, if I have too much news for a V-mail, then I write regular mail.
I must confess that neither Snuff or I was the least bit upset over his 1-A rating. We have been reconciled to this fact for so long that it was no shock. It will probably be a bigger shock to me after he leaves, as the thought of being alone cannot be realized until it is an actual fact.
I wish you could see Harold. He really is precious. He has platinum blonde hair and blue eyes. Right now he has seven front teeth and two molars. He walks alone since he is 10 months old and has quite a vocabulary for one so young. He really is an alert youngster and picks up things very quickly.
My thoughts of you are always such pleasant ones and I keep looking forward to the day when we have won this war and we will all be living normal lives once more.
There really isn't much more I can tell you, as I lead a very uneventful life.
Marcie is down in North Carolina with Bernie. She is going to remain with him as long as she can.
Please answer soon and send me the request.
As ever,
Dot and Snuff
No comments:
Post a Comment