Tuesday September 7,
1943
My dearest Hal,
It has been
so nice to hear from you several times last week and then again yesterday. I
can reassure you on one point. I will not be teaching. If the thoughts of my
doing it have worried you I am terribly sorry. I would not willingly cause you
any anxiety. Mr. Tilkeson is desperately hard up for
teachers. He has been forced to hire high school graduates and teachers whose
certificates expired a long time ago. He makes me feel I’m not very patriotic
when I refuse.
I really am
needed right here at home, but I don’t intend to say I wouldn’t love to have
the money. I am desperately anxious to buy as many bonds as you do and I would
also like to pay for the treatments Sam and I are taking for our hay fever.
They have helped us wonderfully but I hate for you to have to pay for them.
I hope it
will save us just as much if I can learn to sew and cook and manage as well as
Mother does. I continue to be amazed at the way she manages in spite of
rationing and high prices to set a grand table and to spend such a moderate
amount to do it. I hope I can learn to do as well.
As for your
worrying that I might be teaching and couldn’t go with you when you come home I
want you to understand this very clearly. Nothing less than a broken leg is
going to keep me from seeing you at the first possible moment. I would of
course just give up any job I might happen to have and I am sure it would be
best for me not to have one since I feel as I do. We won’t have as much money but
I’m sure we can be happy on very little if we can be together so I am not
worrying over that.
Yesterday
being Labor Day, Peggy was at home, and as we are still in the midst of having
the floors sanded and the noise and dust make it almost impossible to stay here,
we decided we would go swimming. The pleasure ban has been lifted but the hitch
is no one has much gas so we still can’t do much going. We did however take Sam
and four other children out to the lake yesterday. They had a beautiful time
especially Sam. He is a friendly little boy but he doesn’t have an opportunity
to play with other children as much as I could wish. I can’t let him loose to
walk up and down the road and go to the Draft alone so he really needs to play
more with children. He has played some with Grace Forrer’s
children, but they are conscience objectors and I think the association is not
too good so I have discouraged it.
Believe me no member of this family has anything good to say about C.O.’s.
I do
believe we are finally going to have a rain. We need one so badly. There have
been good rains in both
I have
heard nothing from Nana for several days.
She was a little better the last time I called Sara. I hate to call her
when she is working and she promised to let me know if there was any change.
You said I
was not to bother about renewing your magazine subscriptions. I am sorry but I
had already done it before I got your letter so I guess we’ll have to let it
go. I hope you will get some of them anyway. Have you been getting the
American? I sent that one too. I don’t seem to remember you mentioning having
gotten that one.
I hope you
are right about being able to come home in two years. It seems like two
million. I am thankful I didn’t know when you left how long it would be because
I don’t believe I could have stood it. Sam and I are more anxious to see you
with each passing day. Please believe that I don’t ever want to do something
that you wouldn’t approve of. I only considered it because I thought it might
help out with the budget. I have felt real well lately but that is because I
rest a lot and sleep a lot and don’t run around. You will never know how much I
miss you, but maybe you can guess.
All my love,
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