November 25, 1944
Iva Ruth Hendrix's hustband Gale Kimball was killed in a car wreck (died from burns - ignited in wreck) Sunday November 19, 1944. Charles and I went to Mesquite to the funeral. Mrs. Hendrix and Clayton were there. I feel so sorry for Iva Ruth, it seems only yesterday that she was a little 14 year old high school girl living next door to us.
Last Thursday November 23rd was celebrated in a great many places as Thanksgiving, however we will have no holiday until November 30th. President Roosevelt has tried to change the dates on Thanksgiving but the old date of the last Thursday in November is still holding on in many cases. We will do what celebrating we do tomorrow. Robbie and Wilbur are coming up at that time.
The war seems stepped up in fury but the end is certainly not in sight. How I wish and pray it may be over soon. Charles McClary is reported missing and so many others.
Had a nice surprise today when Mark Waldrip sent a lovely basket of flowers to the office. I appreciated it so much.
Using that great if not 100% reliable research site, Wikipedia, I find that Thanksgiving was fixed as the fourth Thursday in September by federal law starting in 1941. It sounds like the old tradition of it being the last Thursday in November held on for a few years longer, based on this diary entry. I sampled some of Lola's food growing up, and I can tell you she definitely had the old style Southern cooking recipes down, so I'm sure that they had tasty food on the 30th that year.
Saturday, November 07, 2009
Friday, November 06, 2009
Lola's Diary, Part XII
November 11, 1944
Worked all day today. Mrs. Parnier came late and left early. I only took 20 minutes for dinner and am already tired.
The election is over and FDR beat Dewey in every way. Electoral votes 3 to 1 and polled 3,000,000 more popular votes. I do hope that settles that for a while and people shut up their criticism.
The business houses did not close today. There was a program on the Court Square honoring those who gave their lives in this war but nothing else. They banked flowers honoring them on the sidewalk.
Charles took the car and went to Dallas to see Denton and Highland Park play ball last night. They got beaten 28-7 but seemed to put up a good fight. Charles took a crowd of boys with him.
Wallace is delighted with the climate at Tuscon. He is working hard. Will not get to come home Christmas.
Earl was buried three years ago today. It seems forever.
Jess did not get in the Navy, as he desired, but is a buck private and stationed in San Antonio. I hate it.
I presume that Lola was not happy with Jess being in the Army instead of the Navy because there was a higher chance of being in combat in the Army. However, I'm not sure of that...it's just my best guess.
It may seem odd for my grandmother to have let my father drive 30 miles to see a football game with a bunch of fellow students in the car, but Dad had quite a bit of experience driving at this point...he'd learned to drive when he was 12 or 13 after his father Earl died, and he did a lot of driving helping out with Lola's business. By the time he made that trip, he'd been driving for for a few years. I know it seems odd today, but back then there were few formal requirements for a driver's license (and of course, a lot fewer cars on the roads as well.)
Oh, and for anyone wondering how that is possible if he was a senior in high school at this point...Dad graduated high school when he was 16 for some reason. There was something to do with a switch to a different academic calendar, and his birthday, and he was also a pretty good student so he may have skipped a year at some point for that reason. Due to my birthday being in October, I was only 17 when I graduated high school myself.
Worked all day today. Mrs. Parnier came late and left early. I only took 20 minutes for dinner and am already tired.
The election is over and FDR beat Dewey in every way. Electoral votes 3 to 1 and polled 3,000,000 more popular votes. I do hope that settles that for a while and people shut up their criticism.
The business houses did not close today. There was a program on the Court Square honoring those who gave their lives in this war but nothing else. They banked flowers honoring them on the sidewalk.
Charles took the car and went to Dallas to see Denton and Highland Park play ball last night. They got beaten 28-7 but seemed to put up a good fight. Charles took a crowd of boys with him.
Wallace is delighted with the climate at Tuscon. He is working hard. Will not get to come home Christmas.
Earl was buried three years ago today. It seems forever.
Jess did not get in the Navy, as he desired, but is a buck private and stationed in San Antonio. I hate it.
I presume that Lola was not happy with Jess being in the Army instead of the Navy because there was a higher chance of being in combat in the Army. However, I'm not sure of that...it's just my best guess.
It may seem odd for my grandmother to have let my father drive 30 miles to see a football game with a bunch of fellow students in the car, but Dad had quite a bit of experience driving at this point...he'd learned to drive when he was 12 or 13 after his father Earl died, and he did a lot of driving helping out with Lola's business. By the time he made that trip, he'd been driving for for a few years. I know it seems odd today, but back then there were few formal requirements for a driver's license (and of course, a lot fewer cars on the roads as well.)
Oh, and for anyone wondering how that is possible if he was a senior in high school at this point...Dad graduated high school when he was 16 for some reason. There was something to do with a switch to a different academic calendar, and his birthday, and he was also a pretty good student so he may have skipped a year at some point for that reason. Due to my birthday being in October, I was only 17 when I graduated high school myself.
Thursday, November 05, 2009
Lola's Diary, Part XI
September 9, 1944
Mrs. Buckingham is out at Ida's and is slowly recuperating from the spider bite. Ida is not at all well and is really not able to take care of her but there seems no other way out.
Mary Frances Neal married last week and it was a beautiful wedding. Mrs. Neal had a lovely reception for her and it was nice as could be.
Elizabeth Provence is at home and I had a little party for her last Monday night. She is the same old sweet Lisbeth.
The twin babies who have cried all summer and nearly driven Mama crazy have moved to Ruthie's and we cannot hear them cry nearly so plain. Also it has turned cool and they do not cry like they did. Mama, who had feet terrible all summer, is now feeling some better.
Part of the reason the South has exploded in population in recent decades is because of air conditioning. I know that for a long time people managed without it, but the thought of living here all summer with no cooling other than fans is a scary one...but I guess people managed.
Wallace, who has been in Waco since August 22, has been transferred to Lincoln, Nebraska. He must be there by the 14th. He came by home and spent two days and went to Oberlin, Ohio to see Rainee. He has been training on B-24's.
Charles has been working out at T.C. for two weeks. He is painting. Makes 35 cents per hour but he does not have a Social Security card yet. He will quit Tuesday night and will start to school on Wednesday. He is a senior in high school this year. I can hardly realize that my baby is a baby no longer.
October 4, 1944
Ida is leaving this afternoon for Dallas to go to a clinic. She has been sick for over two months and does not know what is wrong that she cramps so. I've had a series of headaches that have given me a fit. Feel very punk today.
Mrs. Buckingham is at home nnow and is getting along very nicely. She is up all the time now.
Mr. Eli Cox, our neighbor, has been sick for two months but is recovering. He has been in Dallas in a sanatarium. Mr. Wright has also been sick and in a sanitarium.
Jack Williams, Ellen's youngest boy, who entered the Air Corps three years ago, was killed Sunday, September 17, 1944. He was a 1st Lieutenant and had served overseas for one year, returned to the US and had been flying big transports across. He started out with one for England and crashed at Bangor, Maine, only 200 feet off the ground. It is a tragic thing and grieves us all.
Wallace is still in Lincoln but is expecting to leave any time.
I didn't know the Williams family, but that would be a terrible thing, to have your child make it through what you thought was the most dangerous part of the war (combat in Europe) and then be back doing a relatively safe job in the U.S., only to be killed in a plane crash. Of course, aviation back in those days was not as safe as it is today, but crashes were still a rare occurrence.
See you all tomorrow with more tales from the 1940s!
Mrs. Buckingham is out at Ida's and is slowly recuperating from the spider bite. Ida is not at all well and is really not able to take care of her but there seems no other way out.
Mary Frances Neal married last week and it was a beautiful wedding. Mrs. Neal had a lovely reception for her and it was nice as could be.
Elizabeth Provence is at home and I had a little party for her last Monday night. She is the same old sweet Lisbeth.
The twin babies who have cried all summer and nearly driven Mama crazy have moved to Ruthie's and we cannot hear them cry nearly so plain. Also it has turned cool and they do not cry like they did. Mama, who had feet terrible all summer, is now feeling some better.
Part of the reason the South has exploded in population in recent decades is because of air conditioning. I know that for a long time people managed without it, but the thought of living here all summer with no cooling other than fans is a scary one...but I guess people managed.
Wallace, who has been in Waco since August 22, has been transferred to Lincoln, Nebraska. He must be there by the 14th. He came by home and spent two days and went to Oberlin, Ohio to see Rainee. He has been training on B-24's.
Charles has been working out at T.C. for two weeks. He is painting. Makes 35 cents per hour but he does not have a Social Security card yet. He will quit Tuesday night and will start to school on Wednesday. He is a senior in high school this year. I can hardly realize that my baby is a baby no longer.
October 4, 1944
Ida is leaving this afternoon for Dallas to go to a clinic. She has been sick for over two months and does not know what is wrong that she cramps so. I've had a series of headaches that have given me a fit. Feel very punk today.
Mrs. Buckingham is at home nnow and is getting along very nicely. She is up all the time now.
Mr. Eli Cox, our neighbor, has been sick for two months but is recovering. He has been in Dallas in a sanatarium. Mr. Wright has also been sick and in a sanitarium.
Jack Williams, Ellen's youngest boy, who entered the Air Corps three years ago, was killed Sunday, September 17, 1944. He was a 1st Lieutenant and had served overseas for one year, returned to the US and had been flying big transports across. He started out with one for England and crashed at Bangor, Maine, only 200 feet off the ground. It is a tragic thing and grieves us all.
Wallace is still in Lincoln but is expecting to leave any time.
I didn't know the Williams family, but that would be a terrible thing, to have your child make it through what you thought was the most dangerous part of the war (combat in Europe) and then be back doing a relatively safe job in the U.S., only to be killed in a plane crash. Of course, aviation back in those days was not as safe as it is today, but crashes were still a rare occurrence.
See you all tomorrow with more tales from the 1940s!
Wednesday, November 04, 2009
Lola's Diary, Part X
Welcome back to my monthlong posting frenzy. Also, I wanted to clarify something for those of you who have been following my recent entries (specifically my last one): penicillin wasn't rare in 1944 because it was for military use only...it was rare because it was a brand new drug. (I know that it was discovered in 1929, but widespread use did not occur until the 1940's.) I'm glad that my father had a good doctor who knew about it and knew it could be of help, of course, and that he received it in time. Anyhow, let's get back to today's entry (actually, since the first entry is pretty short, I'm transcribing two diary entries today.)
July 12, 1944
I brought Charles home from the hospital June 27th, 1944. He has been fine and has gradually returned to normal life. I took him back to Dr. Jones Jun 9th for a final check and he said Charles was just fine. We had supper with Robbie and drove home that night.
Martha is doing volunteer nursing this summer at St. Paul's in Dallas. Charles has three very small scars, barely noticeable. His sight does not seem affected in the least. He has had a remarkable recovery.
A letter from Wallace says he hopes to get his wings August 4th.
August 21, 1944
Wallace got his wings at Pampa, Texas, on August 4th, 1944 and is now Lt. Wallace Mann and is 22 years old as of August 17. Charles, Carolyn, and I went to Pampa to see Wallace get his wings. We visited Howard Buckingham and had a nice time. We left there Friday August 4th at 10:30 P.M. and drove all night, getting in here at 2:30 A.M. on Saturday August 5th.
Wallace was with us 17 days and did we feed him up. He gained 15 pounds and his new lieutenant uniform was tight as the hide when he left. Lorraine Rose, Wallace's girl, came home from Clarksburg, West Virginia and stayed with us from Sunday August 6th until Wednesday August 9th. She is sweet and cute and we liked her.
Wallace did end up marrying Lorraine, or "Rainee" as she is known to all of her relatives and friends. They had four children together. However, I don't think my father ever completely trusted her since he always considered her a yankee.
Martha came from Dallas on Wednesday, August 16th and stayed until Sunday, August 20th. Wallace left this morning so Mama, Charles, and I feel rather lonesome. Wallace went to Waco, Texas, and I do hope he will be stationed there for a while.
Mrs. Buckingham was bitten by a spider last week and has been in a very serious condition, but seems somewhat better today. Mrs. Neal had an Announcement Tea for Mary Frances yesterday. She is to marry September 2nd to a Bill Arthur and will live in New Braunfels, Texas.
That's all for today. See you tomorrow!
July 12, 1944
I brought Charles home from the hospital June 27th, 1944. He has been fine and has gradually returned to normal life. I took him back to Dr. Jones Jun 9th for a final check and he said Charles was just fine. We had supper with Robbie and drove home that night.
Martha is doing volunteer nursing this summer at St. Paul's in Dallas. Charles has three very small scars, barely noticeable. His sight does not seem affected in the least. He has had a remarkable recovery.
A letter from Wallace says he hopes to get his wings August 4th.
August 21, 1944
Wallace got his wings at Pampa, Texas, on August 4th, 1944 and is now Lt. Wallace Mann and is 22 years old as of August 17. Charles, Carolyn, and I went to Pampa to see Wallace get his wings. We visited Howard Buckingham and had a nice time. We left there Friday August 4th at 10:30 P.M. and drove all night, getting in here at 2:30 A.M. on Saturday August 5th.
Wallace was with us 17 days and did we feed him up. He gained 15 pounds and his new lieutenant uniform was tight as the hide when he left. Lorraine Rose, Wallace's girl, came home from Clarksburg, West Virginia and stayed with us from Sunday August 6th until Wednesday August 9th. She is sweet and cute and we liked her.
Wallace did end up marrying Lorraine, or "Rainee" as she is known to all of her relatives and friends. They had four children together. However, I don't think my father ever completely trusted her since he always considered her a yankee.
Martha came from Dallas on Wednesday, August 16th and stayed until Sunday, August 20th. Wallace left this morning so Mama, Charles, and I feel rather lonesome. Wallace went to Waco, Texas, and I do hope he will be stationed there for a while.
Mrs. Buckingham was bitten by a spider last week and has been in a very serious condition, but seems somewhat better today. Mrs. Neal had an Announcement Tea for Mary Frances yesterday. She is to marry September 2nd to a Bill Arthur and will live in New Braunfels, Texas.
That's all for today. See you tomorrow!
Tuesday, November 03, 2009
Lola's Diary, Part IX
NaBloPoMo day three, and more tales from 1944. This one is pretty powerful to me for reasons that will become obvious. Here we go:
Saturday, June 24, 1944
Well we have been through a lot of anxiety and suffering since I wrote May 29. On Monday June 6th Charles woke me in the night groaning with his head. We doctored him for headache and biliousness all day Tuesday and Tuesday night the pain centered in his left eye. I had Dr. Woodward and he pronounced it acute frontal sinus infection and said it was serious. He doctored him until Monday, June 12 when he sent him to Dallas to Dr. Guy Jones. Dr. Jones made x-rays and announced that he would operate Tuesday morning, June 13.
He made an incision, bored through the skull, and inserted a rubber tube for drainage. Charles came out fine and did well until Thursday, June 15, when his temperature shot up. On Friday, June 16, Dr. Jones said he was in a very critical condition. He made two more incisions, inserted two more tubes, and told me that Charles had osteomyelitis in that bone over his left eye.
At this time penicillin had just been released for civilian use and Dr. Jones made application to Baylor hospital for it to use on Charles. He sent a smear of the infection to Baylor. They made a culture of it and allowed the amount of penicillin needed. They began the injections, given hyperdermically every three hours, Friday at 3:00 P.M. They have been giving them ever since.
By Sunday Charles was much improved and he has been clear of fever since Tuesday. I feel so grateful, so thankful for his recovery. He has two places in his forehead, but the doctor says they will grow back, he thinks. His left eye has been swollen shut since he got sick but we have hopes that it will be all right too. He has two grand nurses, Miss Threit and Miss Ponder. Everyone there treats him grand. I came home Wednesday June 21, and left him there at Jones & Jones Clinic.
Robbie and Wilbur and Martha were grand to me and to him all the time I was in Dallas. Robbie sent all my meals and did our washing and is still doing his. Martha sits with him during the daytime now.
Fred took me down and did everything he could for us. He and Bob came back twice. Mrs. Provence came and stayed with us from Saturday until Tuesday night and helped. Homer sat up all one night. Ida and Geneva and Pauline did what they could. Everyone was lovely and considerate. People prayed and his life was spared.
Mama and I are going to Dallas tomorrow. It is beastly hot today; has been unusually hot since Charles has been there - his fan has run day and night. We sent Wallace a box of cookies today. He has been so worried about Charlie, bless his heart.
Word comes that Toby Roberts is a prisoner. I am so thankful that he was not killed.
As it turns out, my father did fully recover from his illness, and his eye that had been swollen shut for weeks was fine once the infection went away. The places in his head where the surgeons had drilled into his skull did heal, and while he had a small scar near his left eye, it wasn't very noticeable at all.
Before I read this diary, I knew that Dad had a serious infection when he was growing up and had received penicillin for it, but I hadn't realized just HOW serious it was. Osteomyelitis is an infection of the bone...that's how advanced things had gotten.
Dad did tell me that all the doctors couldn't believe how fast he got better once he started taking penicillin...and I can well understand after reading this how antibiotics were considered a "miracle drug" when they first were introduced. I'm very thankful it was made available for my father's use back then...since I'm pretty convinced that if he hadn't received it, he would have died from his infection, and I would never have come to exist.
Saturday, June 24, 1944
Well we have been through a lot of anxiety and suffering since I wrote May 29. On Monday June 6th Charles woke me in the night groaning with his head. We doctored him for headache and biliousness all day Tuesday and Tuesday night the pain centered in his left eye. I had Dr. Woodward and he pronounced it acute frontal sinus infection and said it was serious. He doctored him until Monday, June 12 when he sent him to Dallas to Dr. Guy Jones. Dr. Jones made x-rays and announced that he would operate Tuesday morning, June 13.
He made an incision, bored through the skull, and inserted a rubber tube for drainage. Charles came out fine and did well until Thursday, June 15, when his temperature shot up. On Friday, June 16, Dr. Jones said he was in a very critical condition. He made two more incisions, inserted two more tubes, and told me that Charles had osteomyelitis in that bone over his left eye.
At this time penicillin had just been released for civilian use and Dr. Jones made application to Baylor hospital for it to use on Charles. He sent a smear of the infection to Baylor. They made a culture of it and allowed the amount of penicillin needed. They began the injections, given hyperdermically every three hours, Friday at 3:00 P.M. They have been giving them ever since.
By Sunday Charles was much improved and he has been clear of fever since Tuesday. I feel so grateful, so thankful for his recovery. He has two places in his forehead, but the doctor says they will grow back, he thinks. His left eye has been swollen shut since he got sick but we have hopes that it will be all right too. He has two grand nurses, Miss Threit and Miss Ponder. Everyone there treats him grand. I came home Wednesday June 21, and left him there at Jones & Jones Clinic.
Robbie and Wilbur and Martha were grand to me and to him all the time I was in Dallas. Robbie sent all my meals and did our washing and is still doing his. Martha sits with him during the daytime now.
Fred took me down and did everything he could for us. He and Bob came back twice. Mrs. Provence came and stayed with us from Saturday until Tuesday night and helped. Homer sat up all one night. Ida and Geneva and Pauline did what they could. Everyone was lovely and considerate. People prayed and his life was spared.
Mama and I are going to Dallas tomorrow. It is beastly hot today; has been unusually hot since Charles has been there - his fan has run day and night. We sent Wallace a box of cookies today. He has been so worried about Charlie, bless his heart.
Word comes that Toby Roberts is a prisoner. I am so thankful that he was not killed.
As it turns out, my father did fully recover from his illness, and his eye that had been swollen shut for weeks was fine once the infection went away. The places in his head where the surgeons had drilled into his skull did heal, and while he had a small scar near his left eye, it wasn't very noticeable at all.
Before I read this diary, I knew that Dad had a serious infection when he was growing up and had received penicillin for it, but I hadn't realized just HOW serious it was. Osteomyelitis is an infection of the bone...that's how advanced things had gotten.
Dad did tell me that all the doctors couldn't believe how fast he got better once he started taking penicillin...and I can well understand after reading this how antibiotics were considered a "miracle drug" when they first were introduced. I'm very thankful it was made available for my father's use back then...since I'm pretty convinced that if he hadn't received it, he would have died from his infection, and I would never have come to exist.
Monday, November 02, 2009
Lola's Diary, Part VIII
OK, today's post will be a brief one, since the following entry is a lot longer (and kind of intense) and I don't have time to type it all out right now. However, as a bonus, I'm including a picture I found recently...not from 1944, but of me from 1989.
That skinny dark-haired guy on the left is me in Steamboat Springs, CO, about 20 years ago. I was in tech school for the Air Force and stationed in Denver (Lowry AFB, which has since closed) and some relatives of mine owned the inn in the picture, so I drove up there one weekend with a friend and fellow tech school attendee. We had a pretty good time and both managed to get served alcohol in some local establishments even though we weren't quite 21 yet.
Let's get back to today's diary entry:
Monday, May 29, 1944
A letter from Wallace tells us he has been sent to Pampa Army Air Base. Went there Wednesday, May 24. If nothing happens to prevent he will get his wings the first week in August. He hopes to be home on his birthday but I do not know about that.
Carolyn is graduating from high school this year. I took Mrs. Buckingham and went to the Baccalaureate Services that night. I believe it was the first time I ever went to services of that kind in my life that the church was not filled. Ida had a beautiful new dress and hat and looked nice.
Like I said, short post today. I would imagine that the graduation ceremony was not crowded because so many men were away from home, serving in the military.
See you tomorrow with a more from 1944.
Sunday, November 01, 2009
Lola's Diary, Part VII
Today is the first day of November, which also means it's the first day of NaBloPoMo, which was created by a blogger to encourage people to post more regularly. It's a takeoff of the NaNoWriMo, for those of us who want to write more, but don't want to try writing an entire novel. This is my second year of participating in NaBloPoMo, so I imagine I'll probably finish transcribing Lola's diary by the end of the month...or be very close to it, at any rate. Incidentally, I do have a friend who has participated in NaNoWriMo for the past few years and has created an interesting series, the first novel of which is now available on Amazon.
Getting back to this post, let's take another trip back in time to 1944, as experienced by my grandmother:
May 24, 1944
Charles and I went to San Angelo Saturday, May 13, 1944 to see Wallace. We had a nice visit with him Saturday night and Sunday. We took picnic supper and Charles, Wallace and I ate in the backyard of the woman's home where we stayed. We enjoyed it so much.
Sunday we went to church and in the afternoon went out to Goodfellow Field and spent four hours. Inspected the planes, went to the PX and to the picture show. That evening went to see Mrs. Roberts and had dinner at Jim's steak house - a swanky and expensive place to eat.
Mrs. Roberts said she had not herd from Toby, who is in England, in three weeks. On Tuesday after we returned to Denton he was reported missing in action. His plane had been shot down on April 27th. He was a bombardier. I feel so sorry for Mrs. Roberts. Eunice was with her mother, her husband is just entering the service. I've had a letter from Wallace but he did not mention it.
Wallace is leaving San Angelo this week for advanced training somewhere. We had so hoped he would be sent to Lubbock. He made good averages in everything.
Carolyn is graduating from high school this week. She had gone to summer school several summers. Wallace sent five dollars and told me to get her an orchid. I have some pajamas for her.
We have a garden that is just coming in. We had peas and beans today for dinner and I ate entirely too much. We also had ice tea and some ice cream made from some whipped cream that Vel brought us yesterday. She also brought some country ham, some country butter, and home canned corn. She left the baby, Gerald Wallace, with Mama, and went to Dallas to see the doctor. The baby is so sweet.
We canned pineapple yesterday. Canned twelve and paid $4.25 for them. That is entirely too high; I only got 17 quarts which is twenty-five cents a quart. My fingers are so sore today I can hardly type, the acid hurts one's hands so.
Charles is finishing up his year's work at high school. He is in the 11th grade this year and has done good work but has the spring fever pretty bad and I will be glad when he gets out. He is getting to feel pretty big.
I am now reporting for Retail Credit Co. and have been since April 20. At first the reports came in fast and furious but they have dwindled down to where it is not much. We are having steady work at the office but no rush at all. I took a terrible cold when I went to San Angelo and have felt worse than Ned since I came back.
I am not sure who my grandmother is referring to there, or if it's just a phrase (like "land of Nod") that I'm not familiar with. As the diary is handwritten I'm having to make my best guesses when it comes to people's names at times. For the most part it isn't hard to read but it was a personal journal so she wasn't concentrating on penmanship either. Anyhow, back to the entry:
Uncle Clyde and Aunt Laura were here last Wednesday to have her feet worked on. Leonard is in India and is having a pretty tough time of it. He is seeing plenty of action. He is a Captain now.
Leonard was Lola's cousin and a pretty successful businessman. I knew he served in WWII but not many of the details. He and his wife loved kids but were unable to have any of their own and so they always got along very well with me and my siblings. Leonard gave me a knife that he'd gotten when he served in India and I've included a picture of it here below.
It's not in pristine shape but considering its age, it's held up pretty well.
Perry Cardwell (Lt. Col.) was here Sunday. He has served his period of time overseas and is back in the States. He says the situation in Italy is terrible. In the paper today, the reporters say the next 36 hours will tell the tale there. We are paying a terrible price for what small gains we have made there.
Sometimes when I read so much politics I get so disgusted I could die. Is it possible that this terrible war is a political move? Some people claim that it is. I will not - I can not - believe anything so base of our country.
Well, that's all for today. My grandmother didn't include many political observations in her writing but I do like reading how she viewed things as they happened back then...definitely gives you a different perspective, and an idea on the human cost of this war, which I think sometimes gets overlooked as time passes on. See you tomorrow!
Getting back to this post, let's take another trip back in time to 1944, as experienced by my grandmother:
May 24, 1944
Charles and I went to San Angelo Saturday, May 13, 1944 to see Wallace. We had a nice visit with him Saturday night and Sunday. We took picnic supper and Charles, Wallace and I ate in the backyard of the woman's home where we stayed. We enjoyed it so much.
Sunday we went to church and in the afternoon went out to Goodfellow Field and spent four hours. Inspected the planes, went to the PX and to the picture show. That evening went to see Mrs. Roberts and had dinner at Jim's steak house - a swanky and expensive place to eat.
Mrs. Roberts said she had not herd from Toby, who is in England, in three weeks. On Tuesday after we returned to Denton he was reported missing in action. His plane had been shot down on April 27th. He was a bombardier. I feel so sorry for Mrs. Roberts. Eunice was with her mother, her husband is just entering the service. I've had a letter from Wallace but he did not mention it.
Wallace is leaving San Angelo this week for advanced training somewhere. We had so hoped he would be sent to Lubbock. He made good averages in everything.
Carolyn is graduating from high school this week. She had gone to summer school several summers. Wallace sent five dollars and told me to get her an orchid. I have some pajamas for her.
We have a garden that is just coming in. We had peas and beans today for dinner and I ate entirely too much. We also had ice tea and some ice cream made from some whipped cream that Vel brought us yesterday. She also brought some country ham, some country butter, and home canned corn. She left the baby, Gerald Wallace, with Mama, and went to Dallas to see the doctor. The baby is so sweet.
We canned pineapple yesterday. Canned twelve and paid $4.25 for them. That is entirely too high; I only got 17 quarts which is twenty-five cents a quart. My fingers are so sore today I can hardly type, the acid hurts one's hands so.
Charles is finishing up his year's work at high school. He is in the 11th grade this year and has done good work but has the spring fever pretty bad and I will be glad when he gets out. He is getting to feel pretty big.
I am now reporting for Retail Credit Co. and have been since April 20. At first the reports came in fast and furious but they have dwindled down to where it is not much. We are having steady work at the office but no rush at all. I took a terrible cold when I went to San Angelo and have felt worse than Ned since I came back.
I am not sure who my grandmother is referring to there, or if it's just a phrase (like "land of Nod") that I'm not familiar with. As the diary is handwritten I'm having to make my best guesses when it comes to people's names at times. For the most part it isn't hard to read but it was a personal journal so she wasn't concentrating on penmanship either. Anyhow, back to the entry:
Uncle Clyde and Aunt Laura were here last Wednesday to have her feet worked on. Leonard is in India and is having a pretty tough time of it. He is seeing plenty of action. He is a Captain now.
Leonard was Lola's cousin and a pretty successful businessman. I knew he served in WWII but not many of the details. He and his wife loved kids but were unable to have any of their own and so they always got along very well with me and my siblings. Leonard gave me a knife that he'd gotten when he served in India and I've included a picture of it here below.
It's not in pristine shape but considering its age, it's held up pretty well.
Perry Cardwell (Lt. Col.) was here Sunday. He has served his period of time overseas and is back in the States. He says the situation in Italy is terrible. In the paper today, the reporters say the next 36 hours will tell the tale there. We are paying a terrible price for what small gains we have made there.
Sometimes when I read so much politics I get so disgusted I could die. Is it possible that this terrible war is a political move? Some people claim that it is. I will not - I can not - believe anything so base of our country.
Well, that's all for today. My grandmother didn't include many political observations in her writing but I do like reading how she viewed things as they happened back then...definitely gives you a different perspective, and an idea on the human cost of this war, which I think sometimes gets overlooked as time passes on. See you tomorrow!
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