Ida sent a birthday card, a letter and a $50 check to her son Roscoe on August 15, 1945. Roscoe’s birthday is actually on the 20th, but Ida pens the letter on the morning of VJ Day.
Ida wants Roscoe to buy a couch with the money, but Roscoe never cashed the check (it’s still enclosed with the card) – and $50 was quite a sum at that time!
August 15, 45
Dear Roscoe,
I am thinking of you and Lola this morning, how very glad you will both be. It is a glad day for a lot of people. And Roscoe I am think[ing] of your birthday and that I would like to do something for you. You have done so very much for me. And never complained or found fault with anything that I have done, which has made it easy for me. I am sending a little check which is just a drop in the bucket to what I would like to do. I want you to use it to get you a couch so you can rest when you are at home.
I was a little tired Sunday night but am alright again. I had a letter from Nellie yesterday. I think she is real homesick and would like to come back if she could get reservations and she said she really should not spend the money. I wondered if I should send her money. And I worry so much about your Aunt Ella so I guess we always do have something to worry about.
Well Roscoe I wish you a very happy birthday. And don’t think you’re old for another 25 years. Love to you every day.
Your loving Mother.
Lola, we are enjoying your tomatoes they are sure good. I hope your are got all right. Mother.
A few notes:
- Ida mentions that Nellie is homesick. Nellie, who is Ida’s oldest daughter, is living in California and still suffering the effects of her electrocution injuries. I’m not sure what “reservations” Nellie needs in order to get home. She stays in California for several more years after the date of this letter.
- Ida worries about her sister-in-law Ella, who is now over 82 years old and still living alone in Lincoln. Ida herself is 81 and I believe living with her son Clarence and daughter-in-law Minnie.
- Roscoe is turning 57 on this birthday, and his mother says ” you’re not old for another 25 years”. That would be age 82 – and Ida isn’t yet that old! That is so cute.
- Ida’s handwriting is not as elegant as most for this time period. It could be her age, but I wonder if she was left-handed (perhaps forced to be right-handed) or if she had less schooling than others.
