Memoirs

A Letter to Mommy

July 7, 1954


124 Sunset Avenue
Pennsville, New Jersey 08070

Dear Mommy,

I don’t think I like it here. Carol Ann is too little to play with and Ronnie goes off with his own friends. He has a bicycle. And Carol Ann won’t share any of her toys with me. She has all kinds of dolls on her bed but she won’t even let me touch them. She doesn’t even want me in her room. I know I said I wanted to come but can you come get me?

Aunt Helen is nice enough. She let me iron yesterday. I ironed a tablecloth and real napkins, cloth ones, not the paper kind like we use. She said I was a perfect ironer. I had to fold the tablecloth to iron it, it was so big and then I had to open it up and iron out the folded wrinkles.

They’re house is nice. I have my own room to sleep in. Aunt Helen said it was her sewing room but while I’m here, she won’t do any sewing. She said she really doesn’t do much sewing anyway. Mostly she fixes tears and sews on buttons. I told her I knew how to crochet and I’d be glad to teach her but she said maybe another time. I don’t think she likes to sew. She has bunches of stuff though. I looked around. She even has a sewing machine, not like Grandma's but an electric one that plugs into the wall and has its own light. She showed me how it works but she didn't let me try it. It goes really fast.

They have this great big picture window in their living room with the biggest curtain I’ve ever seen. It stretches across the whole wall and it’s green. You can open and close it with these strings. Aunt Helen let me do it as much as I wanted to. When it’s closed the room is all dark just like nighttime. That’s where I ironed, right in front of the picture window so I could see all the wrinkles. I was careful. I didn’t get burned. Can I iron when I come home? And when I finished, Aunt Helen put the tablecloth and napkins on a big table in their dining room. Nobody eats in there, at least not while I’ve been here, but it looks pretty. The tablecloth was green, too. They must like green.

I don’t know whether I like Uncle George or not. At breakfast he makes me take a big vitamin pill. He says if I want to be healthy, I have to take it and I have to take it while I’m visiting because he doesn’t want me to get sick. Why don’t we take vitamin pills? I can’t believe Carol Ann can even swallow one but she does and she doesn’t even make a face. I did. And something else, I had to drink Ovaltine. I never heard of it before. It wasn’t bad, almost like cocoa. Uncle George said it had extra vitamins too. He really likes vitamins. I don’t think I want any Ovaltine when I come home though. I like real cocoa better, the kind you make with marshmallows. They don't eat stuff we like.

Carol Ann is crazy about Ovaltine. She watches this show on television where they talk about it and how good it is for you. Howdy Doody it’s called. What a stupid song and Howdy Doody isn’t even real. I watched about two minutes of it. It’s for little kids. It’s stupid.

Carol Ann has this scar on the side of her forehead and I asked her where it came from. She just put her head down and walked away. She does that to me a lot. So I asked Aunt Helen and guess what? Ronnie hit her with a baseball bat. My mouth must have dropped open because Aunt Helen quick said it was an accident. Ronnie didn’t know she was standing behind him when he swung the bat. He was really sorry. They all went to the hospital and Carol Ann had to have an operation but she got all well and now you can hardly tell. Maybe I like Carol Ann a little more now. That must have really been scary.

Oh, I forgot to tell you, we went to a big park, Riverview I think it was called. They had all kinds of rides to go on and a gigantic swimming pool. It was full of kids and grownups too. I told everybody I couldn’t swim and you know what Uncle George did? He put both hands on my waist and dove into the pool with me. I thought I was going to drown but he brought me up real quick and in no time at all I was doggie paddling. It was easy. I hope you’re not mad at Uncle George. I really like being in the water. Can we go swimming when I come home?

And last Sunday we went to church. It’s almost like ours but we only stayed for Sunday School. I had to memorize John 3:16. I knew most of it anyway. They gave me a little paper cross with it written on it. It’s yellow with flowers. I’ll bring it home when I come.

Well, that’s all I can think of to write so far. Aunt Helen says she loves to get my letters. She laughed at what I said one time about the mailman coming through rain and sleet and snow to get my letter to her house. It was winter then. I hope you like my letter too. Aunt Helen gave me a stamp and envelope and this pretty paper. She said I can put it in their mailbox and to be sure and raise the red flag. I wanted to say you don’t need to tell me that but I didn’t.

It’s okay here but I’ll be glad to come home. I love you Mommy.

Connie