November 7, 1967: Golden company

Letter postmarked November 7, 1967 (written November 6):

The CCZCC is reset back to zero due to a missing zip code on this envelope.

Dear Mother and Mike,

How are both of you? Busy, I presume. Dave told me to ask you to please write as I am impossible to live with when I don't get a letter from you.

It is nearly noon and I haven't done anything this Monday morn. I just can't get going. Finally, I made the bed up so I won't be tempted to spend the rest of the day there.

The examiner from Texas came Thursday night instead of Friday. We were so glad to see people from Texas that we haven't given them a minute to themselves. They ate supper with us Friday night, then Saturday we took them to Olvera Street and made them eat supper with us again, then Sunday we took them to Knott's. We are really going to enjoy having them in L. A.

[Mom and Dad were quite the L. A. tour guides after living there less than four months.]

Suzie, the wife, is just really nice. She is an ex-speech teacher. She has also had a bit of training and experience with testing children for I. Q., etc. David Wayne is crazy about her and they have played several little "games" (which are really tests) together. I am enclosing the "Draw a Man" test which is given to all first graders. She was surprised that he did so well on it and that he knew all the parts of the body except hips. She said she would grade his drawing a 6.5 (6-1/2 years old) or a 7 (7 years). Since David Wayne likes her so much, he isn't shy around her and he really shows off his "boundless energy." She looks at him, shakes her head, and says, "Gosh, I'm glad I'm not a first grade teacher."

[Here is the man I drew for Suzie. I don't think my drawing skills have improved much in fifty years, although I'd probably draw skinnier arms now.]

[In case you can't read Mom's handwriting in the lower right, it says, "Notice hair, and 5 fingers on the fat arms. Also facial features - everything but eyebrows. Suzie says the body structure with the shoulders and waistline are really advanced for his age."]

[On the back side of that piece of paper is what must have been my first attempt to draw a man for Suzie. I guess I didn't like the shape of his head so I started over.]

Dave and Gene are about to go out of their minds from listening to me and Suzie planning what we're going to do. Dave claims that every time he looks at a dollar he sees wings on it. Suzie and I are going to take all the movie tours and she even knows how to get tickets for the TV shows. We should have a lot of fun together.

[It sounds like Mom's life in Los Angeles is about to change for the better now that she has someone to pal around with. You can't help but be genuinely happy for her.]

Sunday at Knott's, my boys did something different - they panned for gold. Both of them got a small sample of gold in a bottle, but David Wayne was disappointed - he thought he was going to get rich. We also watched a puppet show that was really cute.

[I remember keeping that little bottle of gold flakes for awhile after we moved back to Texas.]

On Olvera Street they have some cute Santa Claus pinatas. We're going to get one to keep and get him another kind to break. I think it's going to be interesting when we pack to come home - with all the turtles, banks, and pinatas I don't think there's going to be room for me and David Wayne.

We got a picture in the mail today of David Wayne and Santa Claus. It is cute. I would send it for you to see, but I'm afraid you wouldn't give it back to us. I would have gotten more prints, but at $1.70 per picture, I couldn't afford it.

[We might see this picture when Christmas rolls around.]

Mrs. Sivell invited us to eat Thanksgiving with them - isn't that nice? We are going to San Francisco over the holidays, however, so we won't make dinner with them, but we really appreciated their thoughtfulness.

Well, that's all the news for now. Take care and get a letter to me soon!!

Love,

Linda