April 9 & 12, 1943. Two letters from Anna to Dad with more news from home. It mostly concerns things around the house and how the baby is doing. “Our spring cleaning is going darn good. We cleaned the front room, the dining room…and your bedroom. Three whole rooms in one week is a record. Poor baby how she lays and complains because no one had much time to play with her. I felt so sorry for her but the work must go on.”
Baby Theresa-Marie continues to grow and develop. “She has learned to suck her thumbs and even sucks my fingers when I stick them in her mouth. She also learned to stick her tongue out and does it all day long. She looks so funny with her little pink tongue sticking out that I go to another room and laugh so she doesn’t see me. Laughing…encourages the baby.”
Anna goes on to observe, “She knows when I scold her and when I don’t. When she is bad and I yell at her she lays so quietly and looks and then tries to smile. If I smile back she smiles and laughs for all she’s worth as if she knows everything was OK.”
She also says, “Daddy certainly loves Theresa-Marie. It surprises me so because he was so quiet and aloof and I didn’t expect him to get too attached to her. He hugs her and plays with her, kisses her, pets her and SPOILS her because when he goes to work she yells for attention and complains so hard.”
In her letter of the 12thAnna acknowledges, “In a few days you will be on the move again.” It looks like Anna is entering a stage of acceptance and is starting to let go a little bit. She suggests that if Dad has a choice as to where he is stationed he choose a place closer to his brother so they might have a chance to get together when either one of them gets a furlough. “It’s the best possible thing since you guys are so far away and God knows when we will see you. You might as well see each other if you can.”
She says that Eddie took the proofs of the baby pictures back to the photographer and placed the order The pictures should be ready in the next week “and it will probably be another week” before Dad gets copies of them in the mail.
She says that Dad is writing to them more often than Stanley. Stanley averages about two letters a week, sometimes only one when he is busy. Anna notes, “It is very queer that even though you boys are so far away—hundreds of miles, you seem to be so nearby when I am writing this letter. It must be the unit of our spirits. You are only my brothers but I love you so much that I would do almost anything just to see you again even for a day. Can’t help it. Long time no see…3 months seems like 3 years.”
She closes, “For now I have no more to tell you. So long, good luck and God bless you.”