Letters From New York
8 August 1966
Dear Mum
We decided to write a day earlier so you would receive it on Saturday. Thank you very much for the lovely card & hankie. It was so nice to receive the birthday cards. Bill bought me a 10" electric fan & I was really pleased when we had a hot weekend as I was able to use it. Sound like you have all had a pretty cold winter at home. Thank you for ringing home. They were real pleased to hear from you. Mum has had the bad flu too, but said she was on the mend.
So pleased to hear you are doing so well with the knitting. I will most certainly get you onto it when I get home. I think you would enjoy knitting for Jenny. I have been doing a little myself. Have just finished one for Michael & have the wool to do one for Anthony & Phillip.
Sorry you won't make the trip over Mum But I know how you feel about plane travel. It is really a terrific trip, so if you change your mind you are most welcome. I wish everyone at home were rich you could take it in turns to visit us & that way our two years would pass quickly.
You ask if Jenny is dark or fair. Well she is bald. Really though her hair is coming through now & she is fair. I thought at first she was going to be as fair as Michael & Anthony were, but now I think she will be a little darker than they were. She is still an Angel Mum, the kids all love her & she loves them. Her little trouble is not holding her back at all, she is so lively, never still for a moment. We take her to Mass & she bounces up & down on her feet the whole time. She is more lively than any of the others were. We didn't hear anything from the doctor after Anthony's X-ray so everything must be O.K. It is really amazing they should find a fault with his heart too. Dr says it is nothing like Jenny's though.
We have our place looking quite nice now. For a while I wasn't very interested in it just made the beds & swept up. With a little bit of polish & shine it looks nice now. As usual I find it hard to keep up with the ironing, but usually manage to get through it. I hope in Winter they may not get quite so dirty. I have to put clean things on Michael twice a day, & most days he has two baths. I have never seen a dirtier place than New York. Michael is starting to eat well now. I can get him to eat his meat & vegs & he has three slices of bread each day for lunch. He still drinks a lot of milk.
The boys go to camp next Monday & are looking forward to it (just quietly so am I, they are eating me out of house & home). Anthony is 4 ft 5 in tall & 4 stone 11 lbs. Phillip is 4 ft 2_ ins & 4 stone 3 lbs. So you can see all their eating is doing them some good. Cathy has lost a couple more teeth & looks a bit odd at the moment. Her hair is growing again & is nearly down to her shoulders. I will be pleased when I can tie it is two again (which won't be long I can almost do it now). Bill & I are fit & fine but still miss home a good bit. We have met a few nice Australian couples & all our neighbours are very nice. Most of them are Japanese. The children are having their round of party's too. They all went to one a couple of weeks ago. Anthony is to go to another one on Friday night & Cathy to one on Saturday afternoon it is a bit expensive to have popular children.
No news left now Mum, we all love you, look after yourself,
Love from Joan
Have had Joan pen most of this since I believe it gives you another slant to hear the woman's view occasionally - and she can better know the little things that interest a woman that a mere man's likely to take for granted. Good to hear you're in regular contact with the Rogers' and hope the long-awaited meeting with the Bartels' comes off soon.
The weeks are slowly slipping by and we're becoming more and more established. At present, we're minding two Australian apartments with both the Bartels' and the Travis' on holidays - the latter only for a few weeks. Seem to be coming into contact with a constant stream of Aussies here! Tomorrow I go for my first preliminary traffic tests prior to going for a drivers license, but this takes quite a few weeks over here. The motor vehicle purchase fell through again when the station wagon showed up a major fault in a presale check, so we're still on the hoof!
Little other news for the time being. As Joan says, everyone's well & hope this reaches you (as planned) by the weekend.
Love,
Bill