ATOP Chapter Eighteen

Telegram from John Marshall to Malcom Scott, July, 1946

HEARD YOU TIED THE KNOT STOP CONGRATULATIONS STOP BEEN A LONG TIME KINDA MISS SEEING YOU AND ALL THE GUYS EVERY DAY STOP SORRY I COULDN'T MAKE IT TO THE WEDDING STOP FUNNY YOU MARRIED CHIEF'S SISTER AFTER ALL WOULDN'T HAVE THOUGHT YOU STOOD A CHANCE STOP JUST KIDDING WISH YOU ALL THE BEST STOP HOPE YOU AREN'T LIVING IN A QUONSET HUT TOO STOP ROSE SAYS SHE DOESN'T CARE BUT I DON'T BELIEVE HER STOP SANDY

Letter from Emma Campbell-Hayes to Marci Morrison, July, 1946

Dearest Marci,

The wedding is over now and my dear little sister gone so far away... so soon after reunion and we have to be parted again! As good ole' Dickens says... "Life is made of ever so many partings welded together"... but as Dickens also says "The pain of parting is nothing to the joy of meeting again" and oh, have I felt it! Such joy at being together again, at seeing each dear old face, looking so different and yet so familiar after so many years... Josh and Ronnie and Katie and Mama and Daddy and dear little Mickey who has grown so tall and handsome! And at least 'tis only a few states separating my Katie and I, and not an ocean, and neither one of us is in danger of anything more than heat waves or spilled dishwater. (Yes, I speak from experience, besides the fact that we are suffering through a terrifying heatwave just now, yesterday Scout spilled dishwater, slipped and fell with a crash that shook the house, and now he has a sprained ankle and a black eye. Much ado has he made about post-war wounds and insists upon being nursed...) 

But anyway. I digress. I am so thankful that Katie is so happy... losing Jerry broke her heart, I thought she would never smile again. You should have seen her smile on her wedding day. I almost forgave Mac for stealing her. Almost, but not quite. Never quite! Although Mac is a fabulous fellow and we all love him. I suppose some good things do come out of war times.

Take Rachel, for example. And her precious little Benjie. He's a sunbeam in all our lives, that sweet little one. And I am his Auntie Emma... moving up in the world, aren't I? Scout and I get to watch him every now and again to give Ronnie and Rachel a break. Although I think we're the lucky ones out of that deal... never so much fun as when there's an itty-bitty running round the house. Oh, I can't wait to have one of my own! I doubt I will stop at one either, I shall go on to have half a dozen, at least. Children are such a blessing from the Lord, aren't they, Marci-est? Just little bits of love sent from the Father of love to brighten our days and gladden our hearts. And you know what else I can't wait for is to see Josh as a daddy. Watching him with Benjie... I just know he'll be the best daddy ever. And he's surely got the energy that it takes!

On a side note, would you believe that poor Benjie is being brought up entirely without pork? Rachel became a Christian a few years ago, but she's held on to some of her Jewish traditions... among them abstinence from pork. Oh, I shouldn't criticize her... I love seeing how she has held on to her heritage, it is such a beautiful thing. And no, I'm not really criticizing, but I think the pork thing is kinda funny. I should explain. You see, because Benjie and Rachel get no pork, neither does my poor big brother. Who loves porkchops and ham and above all, bacon. And he is being woefully deprived. Yesterday morning, I was at mom and dad's, they were just cleaning up from breakfast. There was still a plate of bacon on the kitchen table. Suddenly, and without warning, the kitchen door flew open and Ronnie came rushing in, snatched up a handful of bacon, crammed half of it in his mouth, and rushed back out the door. Not a single word of explanation. Mom and Dad just stared but I laughed myself fit to split. 

 Letter from Rachel Stewart to Katherine Scott, July, 1946

Dearest Katie,

I am just... overwhelmed with joy... I cannot believe this beauty and this abundance! After being so hungry for so long... ah, dear sister, this America of yours, it is truly a land of plenty! I thank the Lord for bringing Benjie and I here... for every step of the journey that brought us here, truly. More than anything, I am so thankful that my little one, he shall not be growing up cold and hungry and afraid. Is not that a wonder, being able to live without fear? For the first time in so many, many years I am able to hold up my head in public, to leave the house knowing that there are no soldiers coming to drag me away, to sit in church with other people and to hear the Word of God unhindered. Do you Americans realize how blessed you have always been to have been born into such freedom?

And then I remember how millions of you sacrificed so much... some everything... to give freedom to people like me. I do not deserve this...

Hi, sis, this is Ronnie, I just happened upon Rachel writing this letter and had to steal the pen to correct her because she's making an awful mistake there. "I do not deserve this", she says and I must disagree. No one could ever be more deserving... I'm the undeserving one here... don't deserve her...

I am sorry, Katie, I have the pen back now. And I am sorry for those ink blots too. I should start over and write a new letter but Ronnie is staring at me suspiciously and I am afraid that if I attempted to finish the above interrupted paragraph it would only be interrupted again. I would venture to say that... but no, never mind. He will not go away. So I shall stick to other subjects.

Ronnie and I went to Cleveland on the train on Saturday. Such a big, bustling city... the shops are just lovely. Ronnie decided that Dillinger's was too prejudiced so we found a lovely dry goods in Cleveland instead and I was able to purchase fabric there. I have enough to make myself an entire fall wardrobe and we got some lovely little things for Benjie too. I am so excited to be able to make him some new things... he is growing at a furious rate and most of his old things do not fit. And oh, I was so excited to find that blue fabric again... I did mention it to you, did I not? The shade of blue that just exactly matches Ronnie's eyes. The most beautiful color in the world... gracious, Katie, there he goes lunging for the pen again... I managed to duck him and still have the pen but I believe I shall close this letter soon and try my luck sometime when he is out in the fields. 

All my our love, 

Rachel (and Ronnie)

P.S. He says he was going to tell you that brown is the prettiest color, "deep dark chocolate brown", he says, the color of my eyes... just a fancy way to say plain brown, I suppose, but I promised to write this in order to keep the peace and prevent further ink blots.