February 1, 1943. Two letters from home. Both Anna and Eddie (her husband) write. True to form, Anna’s letter is the longer of the two. We’ll start with Eddie’s. He confesses that he is not the best letter writer around, “I can sit and talk for hours but when it comes to putting it in writing, that’s different. I have been reading all the letters from you boys and it puts me to shame so I am trying in part to write back.”
He states that “I’m pretty proud of you fellows” and laments that “boy is it lonely around here…Pretty soon I am going to feel lost around here, all the faces I know are gone. No fellows of my age around at all. That’s all you see now are either old men or young kids. Sometimes I wish I was single and was there myself, but when I see Anna and Theresa-Marie, well that’s different.”
In Anna’s letter she assures Dad that “We are all fine including little Theresa Marie. Mama seems to feel better nowadays than she used to feel before. By this I do not mean that she is perfectly well, but there are marked increases in her development.” She is pleased that Dad has heard from his brother “I knew you would because Stanley is such a conscientious letter writer and what brother wouldn’t be eager to write to his own brother especially if the two were as close together as you fellows always were.”
The baby continues to be the light of the household. “We sure have a lot of fun with Theresa Marie. She furnishes all the free entertainment we want. Today when I gave her a bath and dressed her on the bathinette table, I let her lay there for a while. She started to kick so hard that the table swayed from side to side. Now she goes up and down with both of her legs together.” Anna also relays a story of when she was sick and Mama and Pop watched the baby. I’ll let her tell it in her own words:
In an excerpt from her February 1, 1943 letter, Anna details to Dad the scene when their parents were left watching the baby.
Anna mentions that it is quiet in the house now as the baby is sleeping and Eddie is fixing his fishing reels, despite the fact that with the gas rationing he will not be able to get to the lake to do any fishing. She signs off with the news that the baby’s “gums are a little red and mama says that little teeth are starting to grow inside her gums already. In a couple of weeks we ought to find a couple of them in her mouth. I will let you know when we do.”