In Box Number Two

I have opened a second box of letters from my folks.  The first box contained well over a hundred correspondences – there are probably another six hundred or more letters to read.

There’s no chronology to these intimate insights, but that doesn’t matter really. That can come later.  For now, I just read, and read, and read – sometimes crying, sometimes laughing, sometimes cringing …

The top batch is from 1945, mostly from my mother.  The third letter down had me spitting out a drink, much the way Back to the Future’s Marty McFly does in the ‘parked car’ scene with his mother when he sees her lighting a cigarette and says, “Jesus! You smoke too?”

In a July 23, 1945 letter my mom writes back an answer to a car question posed by my dad:

“Trying to get a station wagon after the war is a good idea.  I remember you always talked of one. It surely would solve a lot of problems. You and I should have had one during our ‘courting days.  The back seat would have been big enough then!!!”

---

Circumstances were such that my mom and dad were married for over three years, and yet, due to my dad having to report to boot camp a month after their wedding, they had never had a chance to celebrate either of their birthdays in person during that time. I did not realize this until I came upon this letter tonight.

“Detroit Lakes, Minn.
June 5, 1945 (my mother’s 30th birthday)

My Darling Husband,
It’s a funny thing. A few years ago I considered 30 rather much like old age, but now when I have reached it I feel as young as ever.
Good night now. I wish you were her to give me a birthday kiss. I’ve never had one from you.
Forever yours,
Vi”

---

I just discovered in a 1945 letter from my mom to my dad that she envisioned having four kids - named: Mary Elizabeth, Marcia Suzanne, Stephen, and Peter.
They ended up with three - named: Robert Allen, Noel Christopher, and Susanne Elizabeth. 
Score a partial win for Susi anyway.