This is Part 5 of the letter postmarked November 30, which is the remainder of the letter not covering any specific days of our Thanksgiving trip to San Francisco.
Now to answer your letter. It was in the mailbox when we got home late Sunday night and as tired as we were we couldn't wait to read it. David Wayne loved his special letter - especially the Peanuts stickers. Dave enjoyed those articles on politics, especially the one I'm sending back to you.
[The article Mom sent back is a column someone wrote about Ralph Yarborough, who served as a US Senator from Texas from 1957 to 1971. The columnist did not have a good opinion of Senator Yarborough. The article primarily pokes fun at his response, as well as the response of many other politicians, to the damages along the Texas coast due to a recent hurricane. At the bottom of the article, in someone's handwriting other than my mother's or my grandmother's, is "This was cut from an independent paper in Birmingham." Assuming that's Birmingham, Alabama, I have no idea why a column about a Texas senator would appear in an Alabama newspaper. But I do have a theory on how my grandmother came across the article. After her divorce from my grandfather, she remained in close contact with his mother (my great-grandmother) who lived in a rural area in northwestern Alabama. My great-grandmother wrote the occasional political piece for the local newspaper, so I suspect she came across this article and sent it to my grandmother in Denton. My grandmother, in turn, must have added it to some political articles she had been saving for my dad.]
David Wayne did enjoy his Halloween, but we haven't been to see the baby in No. 9. He has been several times to No. 6 to see the old lady's fish though. She even tried to give him some.
[The old lady's fish? What's that all about? I'll refer you back to the August 28, 1967 diary entry, where Mom recounts a trip to the beach. I caught some minnows on this visit to the beach and brought them home, but they died. One of my comments regarding that diary entry was, "My desire to observe fish will be revisited later on, I hope." And here it is. There was an old lady who lived in our apartment building who had a large aquarium. (Well, it seemed large to a five-year-old, at least.) Reading between the lines I'm guessing we discovered this lady and her aquarium while I was trick-or-treating on Halloween and she let me come into her apartment and watch her fish for a bit. She must have told me (and my parents) that I could come back whenever I wanted to to watch her fish, and I did. I don't know if Mom would call her first to ask, or if I would just ask Mom if I could go, but I would just knock on her door, ask if I could watch her fish, and she'd let me in so I could stare at the aquarium for awhile. (Yes, "The Incredible Mr. Limpet" comes to mind.) I don't know if I did that the rest of our stay in Los Angeles, or if the novelty eventually wore off and I stopped going.]
The Hansens have already gotten him a Christmas present and so have Gene and Suzie. On Monday, Barbara and I took David Wayne to eat in a cafeteria - it was his first encounter with one and he was fascinated. I had never even realized that he didn't know what they were. I just wonder if I'll be able to give our new baby the experiences that David Wayne has had. I doubt it.
[Fascinated by a cafeteria. Fascinating . . .]
Suzie and Gene are going to be contestants on The Newlywed Game. It will be taped the 8th of December but won't be on television until the 16th (Saturday night). Now don't miss that as it should be very exciting. Tell Mike that it will even be worth his time. You may not want to ever admit you're from Texas again, though.
[I do remember watching that episode of The Newlywed Game, which would have been the original version starring Bob Eubanks that aired from 1966 - 1974. Hopefully Mom will mention it in a letter after we watch it.]
We haven't been back to the Sivells for one reason and then another. I have asked Dave to invite them over this weekend so I'll let you know. I did tell you that they invited us to eat with them on Thanksgiving - I appreciated that.
My "gloomy" letter did help me, but I was afraid (later, of course) that it might upset you. I'm glad you understood that it wasn't permanent. Our trip to San Francisco pepped me up and also the night Dave took me out to eat at the French restaurant. Both of us needed that shot in the arm.
As for Dave's diet, he couldn't wear any of his clothes and that made him feel bad. He hasn't stuck to it rigidly lately and that helps. Really, I'm proud that he still wants to look nice for me after being married a whole year - it's kind of a compliment to me, I believe.
I felt some movement recently and my last trip to the doctor turned out fine as he could hear heart beat, etc. And I am getting bigger, so something's bound to be growing. I better warn all of you that Dave is going to be a different type of "first father" than the cartoons show. Now, he will be proud and happy, yes, but he won't be beaming or showing off "look what I did!" He just isn't the type. Neither do I expect to get any help on feeding, changing diapers, cleaning up messes, etc. With Dave, the family will just have to not criticize or be surprised and I will know that he is happy. Besides, I'll get the biggest help knowing that bills will be paid and the child will be loved and taken care of. That is another reason that I would like to see Wayne because I doubt seriously that we will "see" it with Dave.
I will answer the rest of your letter another time. It is just about time for Suzie to come so we can go to the show. I am really excited about seeing "The Sound of Music." Take care of yourselves and write often.
Love,
Linda
P. S. - I mailed another package for you - just sort of a novelty gift. Let me know if it gets there. Now I have finished all shopping except Wayne and Dave.
[I guess Mom got brave enough to mail another package to Texas. Let's hope this one arrives undamaged.]