Two letters in a row with the zip code. Could this be a trend?
Dear Mother and Mike,
I wrote you a letter Monday morning but I didn't get it mailed until today, Wednesday. I got your letter Monday afternoon, so I thought I would write you another - shorter - letter.
[I guess Mom would like to retract her wisecrack comment in the previous letter about my grandmother not writing because of a broken arm.]
First of all, I'm glad you liked your birthday present. Sorry you didn't get it on time. I really couldn't remember whether you had a jewelry box or not.
David Wayne surely got a kick out of your letter about the "livestock." I have read it over and over to him. I really enjoyed the newspaper clippings and the news about Tommy Webster. Yes, Dave is getting the Belton Journal. I don't think he could get along without it. I really tease Dave about that paper, but secretly I am glad that he feels so close to Belton and the people. I hope David Wayne will feel the same about us and his hometown.
[I don't know what the news was about Tommy Webster, but he was is the same high school graduating class as Mom. According to the 2007 Denton High School alumni directory he was running a pool company in Houston.]
[The Belton Journal! I was wondering if Dad got that while we lived in L. A., and I'm so glad Mom mentioned it in a letter. My sisters and I will always remember Dad coming home from work every day and the first thing he would do after changing clothes was sit down at the kitchen table and read The Belton Journal, his hometown newspaper. I'm pretty sure he was still a subscriber when he died. Mom and us kids would often joke about Dad having a virtual bubble over his head (like the cone of silence on "Get Smart") when he read the Belton Journal, since he often seemed oblivious to what was going on in the house while reading it.]
[For the record, I do not feel the same way about Farmers Branch that my dad felt about Belton. Family, yes. The town, not so much. It's basically Dallas anyway.]
Dave didn't have much to say about your "views on money." Dave is and always will be a "cash" paying man. He _has_ changed some about spending money for entertainment since we got to Los Angeles. Every weekend we spend money, not foolishly, but we have a lot of fun. Dave seems to like seeing things as much as I do and he even gets a kick out of David Wayne's fun. In Texas, our weekend "fun" was Irving, Denton, Sanger, and Belton. My "boys" get along better when we go places together and that is certainly better for me.
[As I have mentioned before, I can imagine Dad being a little tight with the money. And I can see it being a bit of a tug-of-war between him and Mom, since I'm sure Mom wanted to go go go all the time. But it seems like we're getting into the swing of things in Los Angeles now and visiting a lot of places. We'll see if we can keep up that pace.]
[Irving, Denton, Sanger and Belton are mentioned in that paragraph because we spent many weekends visiting family primarily in those cities.]
I knew Daddy went to Alabama. Linda Kay wrote me that, but she didn't mention the car. Also, Adelia wrote and told me that. Dave was surprised that he wanted to take our car, but I wasn't. I had secretly wondered about that when I first heard he was going. Dave said the car would not have held up at all. Thank goodness for Wayne - or Linda's? - foresightedness.
[My grandfather was born and raised in Alabama, and he was the oldest of nine children who lived past infancy. (He also went by the nickname "Alabama," which I think he got while in the Navy during World War 2.) He made frequent trips back home to Alabama since he had lots of family still there, and it sounds like some scheming was involved with regard to his transportation for this particular trip. He was always scheming something, as anybody who knew him will tell you. (Adelia was his second wife. They lived in Sanger, TX at the time.)]
It's alright about not going to our house. Patsy keeps an eye on things and sends all the mail except magazines. If we do have any Reader's Digest though send them to us. I will be glad to pay the 10 cent postage due for them, because Dave enjoys them so much.
I was hurt that you didn't mention coming to visit. We will be terribly upset if you cannot come. David Wayne precedes every sentence with, "When Nana comes . . ." He told me this morning to tell you to get a bathing suit and we could go to the beach.
[Mom's really laying the guilt trip on Nana now, isn't she?]
I finally got brave enough to drive to the beach yesterday. It wasn't so bad after all - no monsters ate me up! David Wayne had a wonderful time. He made caves and castles with the sand. He even went into the ocean by himself - not very far. I was scared, but also glad that he showed such independence. I kept my eye on him constantly and only chewed the fingernails off _one_ hand. He has gotten very shy - even more than he was - in this big, strange, city. I understand why, but I am trying to get him out of it without just pushing him away from me. I want him to grow up to be a man, and not always hanging on to my skirt tail. By the way, I really saw some sights at the beach! My husband will never get to go with us, I'll tell you that. The scant covering doesn't leave much to the imagination. If we ever do go he won't be able to find his glasses.
[Interesting comment about me being shy. I always thought I was a little hellion as a young child, but maybe I was still shy around strangers.]
I don't know what to tell you about the fever. I don't have it every day now, and according to the thermometer it isn't even over one hundred. I will watch it closely. It probably has something to do with that cyst.
[It might be a tumor.]
I know what you meant about books that call a spade a spade. I have run into several. It seems to me that authors just see how many bad, dirty words they can get on one page and how many obscene "word pictures" they can get in each chapter. I've read only one book that was nice and that was an old one, "Leave Her to Heaven." I'm hooked on Kyle Onstott books now - "Mandingo," "Drum," "Master of Falcon-hurst," and "The Mustee." All have some of the same characters and they take place in Alabama during slavery time. They _are_ dirty, but how could they be about slavery and not be? I also bought "The Honey Badger." I really enjoy having time to read.
["The Mustee" was actually written by Lance Horner, who co-wrote "Falconhurst Fancy" with Kyle Onstott.]
[If you didn't at least smile when you saw that Mom bought "The Honey Badger," then you don't spend enough time on the internet.]
Well, it seems this letter was longer than I expected it to be. I have finished washing clothes so I guess I will cook my green beans for supper now. Write soon.
Love,Linda
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