Author: Cora Hendricks

Fort George Wright, Washington

May 25, 1923

Dear Bertha,

Your letter of the 19th came today, it was long on the way, but I was glad to have it.

I also had letters from Papa and Sally. Sally, as you know, starts early next week and I judge you will come straight how as Papa writes that Mrs. Wynne is ill with a _____ of doctors and nurses in attendance. I am very sorry she is sick but glad you do not have to make a visit when you don’t want to.

Yes, Papa was kept me informed of you doings so that it was almost as good as hearing from you, and, of course, presented my feeling any uneasiness about you, as might have been the case at another time if you had not written.

I hope you do succeed well with your child portrait and also in the _____. You must be pretty tired now.

I am rather tired tonight, too. I had quite a job of house cleaning done yesterday and today, did not do any of the real cleaning myself, but had to be right around and look out for the little things and I took every book out of all the bookshelves and dusted it and wiped the shelves and put back the books. It is not hard work, but it kept me real busy. The striker worked the floors and the house looks real clean, but we have been enjoying a good bit of wind and dust of late, so it will not be so clean by the time you come.

The little cats are not a bit pretty, but they are frisky funny little beasts.

The troops are still here and do not know in the least when they will leave. It would be rather funny if they never did go. I will soon begin to think Mr. Cambri is a prophet. He has kept saying he did not believe they would ever go on the march. I think he has said it all the time for three months. Emily said, if Sam could get a leave, they would drive to Snelling, if not, maybe she would drive any way. She is pleased to go to Snelling since they have to make a move! I’ll try to get another little note off to you before you start home. In meantime, lots of love and wishes for good luck at your work.

Mother

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.

2941 Summit

Spokane

May 13, 1932

Dear Bertha,

Just a note to let you know that we are well and busy and that I have just received a check from Helena Vearey for seventy-five dollars ($75.00), so it is at your order at any time.

Little Martha has been quite sick, in a peculiar way. They suppose she fell and hurt her knee, anyway, it became very badly infected before they knew what was wrong. She was in the hospital for some little time with drainage tubes in the knee, and, of course, great pain and fever for a time. She is getting along now, has been home for a week. I think Dairy Cooper is still in the hospital will be sometime longer, I believe, but the bone is heading, and _____ says show that she broke loose some adhesions in the knee so that it will probably be better than it has been for a long time.

I wonder how things are going with you. Are there any improvements? I wish you were here. It is “lilac time,” and never were there more or finer blooms. The honeysuckle is just beginning to open and I think there must have been at least two hundred of the early purple and white iris out today.

It keeps everybody on the place busy trying to keep up with the grass and weeds, but we can’t do it. However, we accomplished something and et a spot in the house cleaned between times.

Isabel is having a picnic on Sunday, to which Sally is supposed to go, and she is not a bit enthusiastic, says she would rather run the lawn mower. I don’t know where they are going and if there is a person except _____ under fifty it will be the two _____ and they were not sure they would be able to go.

Sally had no excuse ready so she will have to go, unless it rains or something. We almost had a dust storm today, hard wind but not much dust. Yesterday was quite a summer day, warm even at bedtime, but it was the only evening we have had which was warm.

We are having to begin watering the grass. It is green how soon it gets dry. Well, I guess there is not much more to write about and it is getting a bit chilly and too late to start a fire. So, I am going to bed.

Love to all,
Mamma

2920 Sherwood Ave.
Spokane, Washington

November 18, 1937

Dear Bertha,

I hope the flu is all gone by this time, and have no doubt it is, if you did not try to _____ it and I hope you are not overlooking your eyes just after it. Maybe I am wrong, but I have a notion that flu leave the eyes a little tired and weak.

Well, there is no news to write, only that Sally fancies she can see the end of her dental appointments. She has one tomorrow. I am enclosing a card to show you that there is still one person in Spokane who observes the social _____ to some extent at least.

I had meant to go to call on Mrs. Oudin before now, but calling is quite an effort, and I am very lazy. There are so many people I feel I really feel I should call on.

Oh, I have a Christmas present! Aunt Bertha end me one of her rugs. It is beautiful! And so much work as it must have been. Five feet long and five feet wide and the colors wonderfully shaded and blended. I don’t know where to put it, but I am proud of it. I really do not see how she manages to handle large rugs and get them to lie smoothly.

We are having our first cold. The mercury dropped to below freezing by nine o’clock last night, however, it must have been warmer towards morning. Sally said is snowed this morning. I could not see any.

We think we are going to Mr. Oudin’s reception, although I just would not go to a church luncheon and program today. The last one almost finished me, mostly because our new clergyman had so many ideas that everything took twice the usual time. We are going to have another new one or none at all next month.

I had a letter from Dan Hyde, who used to have a _____ store here years ago. They live in Oakland now. He inquired for you and ask to be remembered. I can hardly make myself believe that a week from today is Thanksgiving.

I have just started some knitting. Thought I’d make George a scarf for Christmas, now I wonder, the wool this year is horrible, all bumps, if one makes a mistake, it can’t be pulled out, so I’ll have to be very careful. However, it does not slip off the needles, and it can’t ravel.

November 19

I did not get this ready for the mail and when it came, it brought be a nice long letter from you.

I am so glad the flu was not bad! But don’t let it come back on you. It is pretty late for such advice, is it not?

I was interested to see what a nice note your Italian friend writes. It would be wonderful to know a foreign language so well.

We have our first snow this morning and it is very little, but it looks as if it might snow more.

Don’t worry about me, I really am very well and could do lots more work, if Sally would let me, not that there is very much to do. We make our meals very simple, but they are good and I seem always to have a good appetite, and, I guess I eat more than I should. It tries me to get out in a crowd, that is many people talking, but then ways I seem about as well as ever. I am forgetful, however, and get easily confused and uncertain over things. I do not believe I could ever have gone through all the business of selling the place and getting the odd jobs connected with it finished, if I had not been able to depend on Sally. She knows how to go about so many things and she is clear headed and knows business _____ and all that. We are through with all of it now, I think, and very comfortable although there are still things to do be done as we got to them. Having done what had to be done, there has been a tendency to rest and let things slide.

The clipping I sent you was in regard to a resolution passed by the “Garden Club” and I believe the “Chamber of Commerce” to plan lilacs all over the city, more or less, in memory of Dr. Lambert, who so loved flowers. To make Spokane a “City of Lilacs,” rather a nice idea, don’t you think? I have not written to Helen since she went to Boston, must do so.

So you say Dr. Lambert was more than a fine man and a grand doctor. He was never too tired to give of himself to others, and had a wonderful way of doing so. I was amused at your troubles with the dressmaker, but I should think you would feel like pulling her hair and a few other friendly little gestures. I hope you have better luck next time. Don’t fret about being too comfortable, if you can be comfortable and can find some enjoyment in your life, don’t miss it. Take what you can. I do not feel that there has been as much of taking what one can get in our family as there should have been. Too many things have been allowed to slip away, because in some way, it was considered desirable to do or not to do so and so.

I must stop now. My hand is a little numb. It bothers me sometime but not badly.

Take care of yourself and try to keep warm.

Your loving Mamma.