July 23 and 26, 1945. Anna writes her first two letters to Dad since she has returned home from the hospital with baby Judy. She notes that she “had all this equipment with me when I went to the Brady [Maternity Hospital] but I just never got around to writing to you.” Nonetheless, she thanks her brother for “all the good wishes and good luck that you keep on sending me…it came in handy.”
On the 23rd, Anna writes, “Tomorrow Judy Ann will be two weeks old. Just a while ago she wasn’t around…and now we have another tiny tot. The doctor told me when she was born that she was a strong and healthy baby and she sure is. She moves her head all around and her hands and feet go like blazes. When you pick her up she doesn’t feel limp like a rag.”
She writes that she is “somewhat weak yet and [can] just about get around and care for the baby while mama does the rest.” She goes on to write about the baby, “Judy Ann so far has been a good baby and half the time I forget she is even present. She is quite the opposite from what her big sister Terry was like at that age. …She is so quiet and sleeps all the time and only cries when she’s hungry or has her pants full.” Anna writes that she is doing what she can to give her new baby “a much better start in life,” including feeding her “from the breast.” Judy also gets formula but, “she isn’t too crazy about the bottle.” Anna also writes, “When Judy Ann gets fed Terry comes on the bed and lays down by her and kisses her head and strokes her hands and pats her.”
As usual, little Terry finds a way of stealing the show. Anna shares a story “for the books”. “Terry saw me nursing the baby so she goes and takes her Gracie – you should remember the nice doll babcia Lubinska gave her for Christmas…- well she goes and pulls her undershirt off and goes through the motions of nursing Gracie. She sure was a scream.”
As in Stanley’s previous letter, Anna mentions that baby Judy will be baptized on the upcoming Sunday, detailing, “We won’t have much of an affair but if we can manage and I am feeling halfway decent we will have a dinner and invite Ed’s folks and ours but that’s all.” She also writes that since the following day will be Stanley’s birthday and Anna doesn’t “know of any present to give him” that the dinner they are having with their folks will double as a birthday party for Stanley. “Ed is getting a birthday cake. It is the best we can do at present. Maybe in years to come when we won’t have hospital and doctor bills to pay and you fellows come home we will be able to do better by you.”
Anna writes about Stanley’s pending return to service after his 30 days are up. She mentions that Eddie will be driving him back to Fort Dix and that, “…it was nice seeing him and I hope he does stay in the states for a while but over the news we heard that the 8th Air Force was going to be sent against Japan so I don’t know. Maybe you will get to see Stanley yet.”
As she wraps up her letter of the 26th she writes, “I’m getting tired of writing so I guess I’ll close until next time. Maybe this week I will write again because after that who knows how things will be. So long, Good Luck, and God bless you.”