January 15, 1944

My dearest Hal,

Today I had two nice letters from you. Darling, it seems too good to be true that you are really coming home. If it is just a rumor I don’t think I can stand it. I have hoped and prayed so hard for the time to come. You said about the middle of the summer. I will be out some time the first of June I guess. If there is any possible chance of you coming before then, please let me know just as soon as you can so I can have someone to take my place. I couldn’t bear to miss one single minute with you.

I wonder what you would do then. Do you think you would be stationed in this country for awhile? I don’t suppose they will send you home and then send you back again. I still can’t believe they are going to send you over there and train you and then send you home before the job is done. Of course I think it’s a wonderful idea for us but I wonder if it is the best thing for the war effort. I only know that to have you safely home again would be the most beautiful, wonderful dream come true. I can only wish for everyone else to have the same wonderful news that their loved ones are coming home. I have steeled myself to believe that you might not come home until the war is over, and as the war still seems a very long way from over to me, I just tried not to think of the possibility of your coming home any time soon.

Then I heard Sgt. Harvey say you would probably come home in the spring, I just didn’t dare believe it for fear it wasn’t true. Then Marshall told me that “many officers on overseas combat duty were being relieved for trips home.” Now we are reading it in the newspaper and hearing it over the radio so I guess it is alright to talk about it. Then to get your letter and find out that you might be one of those to come; it seems almost too good to be true.

I am very sorry that you have not mentioned getting the opals I sent you to have them set. I am so afraid that they have been lost and I thought they were beautiful and I wanted so much to wear them. I do hope you will get them before you leave.

Darling, you ask me what I want you to bring home. Honey, just come yourself, what more is there to want. I could name many things but I would not know what you could bring. The rugs are lovely. The ivories and all the other things are beautiful and I love having them. I do hope you will bring the knife as Sam is very anxious for it. Of course you will not be able to give it to him for quite a while. He is much too small to have anything like that now.

I have told Sam that I hoped you were coming home and he is wildly excited and is expecting you in about a week. I’m sure I don’t see how either one of us will be able to wait. Sam wants to meet you in New York because he wants to go to a zoo.

You may have forgotten about it but we have a very good telephone and so you will be able to call us the very first thing you do. 93F21

I imagine you will not lose any time getting here. Please Hal, let me know first that you have arrived. I do not mean to be selfish, darling, but it will mean a lot to me to know you are thinking of me first. I hope you understand how I feel. I know we are both building too many hopes on something we aren’t sure of but I can’t seem to help it. No one can imagine what it does to me to know you might come.

Bob has landed in England. We have had several letters from him. He seems to be feeling pretty blue and homesick. He spent Christmas Day on the boat “seasick as a dog” or so he wrote us. I imagine he didn’t enjoy it too much. I hope he soon finds things better. We think maybe you and Billy have done your share and will come home and let some others take your places.

There are no words to tell you what your promotion and this last news has meant to me.

All my love, Page.