To Bertha from Cora Hendricks –
Miss Bertha Ballou
S. S. Colombo
Italian General Navigation Company
New York City
2941 Summit Boulevard
Spokane, Washington
May 1st, 1927
Dear Bertha,
It is sometime since your letter came and we thought of the time you would leave Fiesole, and when the ship would be sailing, and when you would be at to reach and leave Naples, and then Papa had another letter saying you would not sail until the 26th so I suppose you are only fairly out on the Atlantic by now. It is good to think you are coming toward home. I don’t want you to hurry, though. Take time to visit in the easy, for you may not be there again for some time.
I wish you could go to Washington and see Bowditch, if only for a day or two. The last I heard from him, he was in a hospital at “Johns Hopkins.” Don’t let that frighten you, he is able to be about, and is there only in hope of better treatment from specialists, and the symptoms of diabetes come back every time he takes the slightest cold or anything to change the even tenor of his days. He says he is not sick. I presume he is home again now.
Anyway, write Anna as early as you can, at Springland, Pierce Mill Road, and if you can manage it, go there before you come home. It would be as easy to get to Uncle Hib’s from Washington as from the Gandy’s.
I’ll write again after you get to this side of the ocean, so as to have a letter for you at Col. Gandy’s.
Papa is pretty well, certainly looks a lot better than he did in the fall and sleeps better, has a good appetite, and, I believe, only needs time to get stronger. He had a touch of _____ or _____ cold after he came home and was in bed several days, then when he got up, he seemed a lot weaker than he had been, but you know _____ leaves one that way.
Don’t worry about me. I got along very easily during the winter, of course, it has been harder since Papa came home and also there are many things to do now which there were not in the winter. I did hope to get the house well cleaned before he came home but the weather kept so cold and unpleasant that I cleaner could not work to any advantage, so a lot of it is still to be done.
I have a girl engaged to come tomorrow but is yet to be seen whether she stays or whether I want her to stay. The place looks very pretty now, with lots of tulips and hyacinths out, cherry and plum trees in full bloom, and the young leaves on everything. Leaves are nearly full grown on much of the shrubbery, but small on the large trees. It is dark and cool today, has been raining, but has stopped some time ago.
You will, perhaps, be surprise as we were, to know that Lenn and the family will be here by the middle of June or a little before. Also, there is to be another increase in the family within a few months. I don’t know just when.
It is quite a question now how best to arrange the family in the house. What would you suggest? I wanted to have two rooms _____ the spring, but dear one, at least, will have to wait, and it will not be a bad plan to make it the one Emily is to occupy, as she will naturally have the children there a lot.
Sally is keeping very busy, some week she has an afternoon off, but often has to spend most of it at the library in study, and as it is six days a week, it does not leave her any time to loof or to keep up socially. She did get to a tea least night after hours as the place was between work and home.
One day the last week, I received a great box of roots from Aunt Bertha, little plum trees, currants, daffodils and other flower roots. I was delighted to have them, but sorry they had gone to the trouble and expense of sending such a lot. They say they have both been quite well this winter, better than for a year or two before.
Now I must stop. Hope you get there alright on your arrival, and I will write again in a few days to Col. Gandy’s.
Your loving Mamma.
Did I tell you Mrs. _____ was here when Papa got home? Here is a picture taken April 10th.