Like most men of my father's generation, he didn't often express his feelings. I was surprised to find this "semi" love letter among my mother's keepsakes. It was written in 1944.
Apparently my mother (and we three kids) were staying with relatives in her hometown of Dixon, Ill. while my father was in Watseka, Ill. where he worked. He was looking for a house. These cities were quite far apart so they weren't seeing each other very often. He must have been very lonesome and he made reference to my mother being despondent.
He had written his last letter at work and everyone marveled that he would write such a long letter to a "mere" wife and that if it was a girlfriend it would be different. He replied that she WAS his girlfriend.
He goes on to say that my mother's card playing friends thought he looked lonely and he said he was lonely but none of them took the hint so he thought he was going to keep "baching".
I told you it was a "semi" love letter.
It goes on for 6 pages but mostly about work and house hunting. He mentioned that he looked at a house for $4000 that he thought could be had for $3500. Those were the days!!!
For some reason he enclosed the phone bill and there was a call to Dixon for $1.45 which must have been a fortune in those days. So apparently they were also talking on the phone a lot.
He always ended his letters with a drawing for the kids.
He wasn't much of an artist but I love these anyway.
How sweet. I love the sentiments and the little drawings. What a great piece of memorabilia. Doesn't it make you want to write someone a letter that might be found in a box somewhere in the future?
ReplyDeleteThey were a great looking couple!
This is such a lovely post. He must have had a good humor looking at his drawings. I think they were a smashing good looking couple.
ReplyDeleteI love the idea of the little sketches for the kids. They certainly look a handsome couple.
ReplyDelete.oh.I dont know, the Bunny is pretty Cool!
ReplyDeleteI sure hope this period in their life was short- as they seem to be a wonderful couple who should never have had to be apart! What a great find! I love the drawings. He was so sweet. ;-) Beautiful couple too who look very warm. Lucky you!
ReplyDeleteCeCe
It is so good to have found your blog and read more about you and your life. Love your blog. It is a lot of fun to read your posts and I Sepia Saturday is a favorite. The letter written by your dad is so sweet. They were a lovely couple.
ReplyDeleteOh my gosh! The letter was touching; the drawings, charming; but the photograph at the end: it sparkles, it glows, it's fabulous!
ReplyDeleteloving this!!
ReplyDeletehis writing is quite readable, possibly because mine is SO much worse!!
:D~
and his drawings are most endearing. nice to see that love exists, in many forms.
as much as i love my computer with everything that comes with, the correspondence that people used to have is something i miss. it was tangible!! even if you print out your emails, it's just not the same, not so personal anymore...
beautiful post!!
:)~
HUGZ
That's a happy set of little doodle pictures! :)
ReplyDeleteOh why don't more people keep letters like this. And eventually they should be shared with the world - they tell us so much about everyday life.
ReplyDeleteA DAILY letter - how very sweet. I love the doodles too, especially the bunny rolling an egg. This is such a wonderful post. When I got to the picture of them together (in a photo booth?), I was totally won over.
ReplyDeleteGreat post! I love reading old letters. Did I tell you I found a box of letters from my dad to my mom? It was like a part of their lives I never knew about and it was fascinating. I love your dad's doodles the best. I wish I had known him.
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