Dear Mother #1 – Jan 25, 1926
My grandfather Robert pretending to be my great-grandfather.
As a child in Chico, California, my grandfather Robert (born on Sept. 27, 1916) wrote daily letters to his mother during her frequent and prolonged hospitalizations due to a long series of strokes, starting when she was rather young. The writing turned into a habit that he maintained into adulthood.
Luckily his mother kept every letter he sent, and we were able to find most of them. We have notes starting in 1926 and continuing until 1955. My mother and aunt tried to organize the letters into their proper order, but many letters were dated with only “Tuesday afternoon” or “Friday evening” with several mailed (or saved) in a single envelope.
It appears that some portions of Robert’s life are missing from these records, such as his college education, getting married, officer training in the Army-Air Force during WWII, and his professorship at California State University. Maybe they’re lost, but we’re hoping they turn up eventually. His older brother Harry (born on Aug 7, 1913) also wrote letters which will be included in this project. Most of the letters are from Robert, so Harry’s letters will be specially marked. The letters will be transcribed exactly as written, with bad spelling and grammar intact.
And now, with that being said, here’s the first letter:
Tuesday night
Jan 25, 1926
Dear Mother,
I’m using my orange paper fa for a change. I had three left so I used one.
There are over one dozen tulips up.
I went to practice today.
Got your to two letters and a postcard all at the same time. I gess its pretty hard writing in bed. I’m glad I don’t have to get up so early like you do.
The An old hen cackled and fooled me the other day. I gess she is saving her eggs till you get back
Your son,
Robert
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