August 22, 1966 "He wasn’t here 5 minutes and Mary Beth of all people jumped in his lap."

August 22, 1966

Dear Mom and Dad, 

It is 8:30 AM and everyone is asleep except Nancy and I. Yesterday afternoon we went to Mildred’s and Tiá  Lola looked and felt very good. Sally and Lil were also there. Mary and Chick – Clorinda and Billie’s and family.  They all look wonderful. Billie and Colleen are ageless and their kids are still very sweet. Imagine 3 other teenagers spending an afternoon like that.  Alice and Toots were there. For a while she and I sat outside in the yard and she was telling me some of the happenings. Of course I had heard it but I didn’t tell her.  Bobby is married again and his wife is nice, she says.  We showed some of our movies and everyone wanted to see the ones with both of you in them. I didn’t realize we had so few shots of you two. Neva was there and helped Mildred cook.

Then at 7PM we came home and Estelle and Oscar dropped in (Linda is on vacation).  Estelle has quit work because her mother is ill and she goes over there to help out a few days in the week. They also keep Cobby’s little girl a lot and enjoy her so much. You can tell Oscar loves kids. He wasn’t here 5 minutes and Mary Beth of all people jumped in his lap.

I was inquiring about Luisa from Colleen and she says that Luisa was really brave. She is very resigned and says everything is fine.  If she is in any discomfort nobody knows it. The real problem is Julio who is now completely helpless. It’s a terrible situation because Bob and Luisa want to put him in a home and Antonia says “If he goes, I go.”  Colleen said she really feels sorry for Antonia. It’s too much for her and she’s afraid for Luisa to strain herself but she says “What will the people in St. Louis say if I put him in a home?”   From listening to Colleen and then Bessie tell about her poor mom – makes you realize how lucky Josie was.

I received a long letter from Jeanne B____. She was really pleased with your visit. She thinks you are both marvelous people and hopes they can continue to see you when they return to St. Louis. I didn’t realize poor Jeanne was so nervous. She said Mom helped her a lot and Tommy is crazy about Dad. Their trip to Ireland was marvelous. They rented a car and traveled 1000 miles. She also said you left their house just spotless.

The phone just rang and Maria Barril called and wants us to come over. I told her you had gotten a big kick out of her letters and in her typical fashion she answered “Hombre, tu madre, que sabe ella de cartas!”

Well I will close for now. Give everyone our love. Have a good time and enjoy the old homeland.

Love,

Jim and Dina