Letter postmarked December 13, 1967:
The CCZCC now stands at 9.
Dear Mother and Mike,
I promised that I'd write to you and comment on your last letter, but now I've discovered that I've lost one.
I enjoyed the news about how your conference turned out. And it is nice to know that at least some teenagers can act in an acceptable way. Both Dave and I (David Wayne notices it, too) see an awful lot of these "MOD" and "hippie" kids, which has just about destroyed our faith in the future of the human race. I believe that the way people are forced to live in a big (BIG) city causes most of it. We are more determined than ever to find a little small corner and raise our family. I want to expose our children to the city (cities) and all that it can offer - amusements, entertainment, etc. - but for just plain old everyday living "give me the simple life." Now, I've thoroughly enjoyed the places we've seen and the things we've done, but you can't imagine how I pine to get home and just get my kicks out of talking over the back fence with my neighbors.
[That's not a surprising perspective from Mom regarding the younger generation at the time. There were lots of rebellious teens in the late 1960s, especially on the west coast, and especially after 1967's Summer of Love. And there was that war going on in Vietnam which didn't help matters any.]
This Col. Murphy sounded like a wonderful man and I'm glad you got to talk to him. I feel (especially after this year with my son) the same way you do about staying home with the kids. It takes more stamina for me to get up in the mornings and stand up to David Wayne's questions than it ever did to get up and go to work.
[Apparently I was quite inquisitive at that age.]
That Mike is really a hunter - butter and grapefruit! David Wayne just laughs and laughs about that and he tells that story to everyone. He really misses Mike and he still says he wants a voodoo doll of him.
[Unfortunately Uncle Mike only has a vague memory of something related to butter and hunting.]
I was glad to hear that you got to rest while Mike went off - - hunting? And wasn't that nice of Wayne and Linda to bring Steven to see you. I'm glad you went to spend the night with them. Linda tells me she's having trouble with Wayne putting the baby in bed with them at night. She also said that when she complains, he just picks the baby up and they go sleep in another room. I couldn't help but laugh at that. Dave took Linda's side and said that he didn't think Wayne should do that - and, of course, he really shouldn't. But I told Dave that you get so dead tired for sleep when a baby is crying that you'll do anything - literally ANYTHING - to get them quiet.
David Wayne loves those Peanuts stickers. He is getting to the age where he likes the funny papers and Peanuts is his favorite. We watch all the TV specials on Charlie Brown.
[It looks like I had pretty good taste in comic strips at a young age. Regarding the TV specials, "A Charlie Brown Christmas" first aired in 1965, and "It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown" first aired in 1966. Only two other Charlie Brown TV specials had aired at this time, one in 1966 and one in 1967.]
Sunday when we went to the train depot, I bought him a funny book about the Walt Disney "Jungle Book." He just loved it and he looks at it several times a day. The Hansens were amazed at him because he remembered the whole show and therefore was able to look at the funny book and tell us what was happening. Which reminds me - I have an idea of something you could get David Wayne for a coming home present. We've been seeing on TV that Walt Disney record sold at Gulf stations. He sings the whole commercial (especially the song from "Jungle Book") and I just know he would love that record. I'd get it, but I'm afraid I couldn't get it home unbroken.
Linda writes me that you are going to Austin with them. I was so glad to hear that. I asked Wayne and Linda to drop by and show Steven off to the Jennings. This is a very hard year for those nice people and I just wish we could do something. Try to encourage Wayne and Linda to stop by - as a "special" favor to me. They have been so nice to me and David Wayne that I could work the rest of my life and not ever pay them back. Dave has no idea that I've asked y'all to do this and he would be upset with me if he knew, but I know he would appreciate it too. I said I was glad you were going to Austin, but really I wish you and Mike could come out here.
[That is rather sweet to see Mom's perspective of Dad's parents at this point.]
I wish you could see Dave reading your letters, especially the parts about the College Store. He enjoys those parts tremendously and just laughs and laughs. He has to ask about who some of the people are and when I told him about "stuck up" Professor Escue and lovable Sis bug, he just about doubled up. He has not seen the store, but the stories he's heard from you, me, Wayne, and Myrna are too unbelievable and fantastic not to be true, so he does believe. When we were with the Hansens one night, he told them all about the College Store and also about my kinfolk in Alabama who have never paid income tax. Now, they just couldn't believe it. They know Jim and Bernie and they said they couldn't wait to ask Jim about his trip to Alabama with Wayne.
[I've mentioned the College Store before, which was a store in Denton owned and operated by my grandmother's aunt and uncle. Unfortunately I don't know any of these stories Mom is referring to here. Regarding the kinfolk in Alabama, that's my maternal grandfather's family. I don't have any trouble believing some of them had never paid income tax. The Jim mentioned in this paragraph is Jim Pyland, who also worked at the Texas State Board of Insurance with my dad and uncle (Mom's older brother Wayne). Bernie was his wife. They were lifelong friends of the family.]
Our other friends, from Texas, will be on The Newlywed Game Saturday night, the 16th, so don't miss it. I cannot describe this couple in a letter, but you get your own ideas from watching them. Dave can't stand Suzie and I can't stand Gene, but we get along alright with them out here. Gene has sort of a dirty mind (and tongue) and Dave gets pretty upset with the way he talks around me and David Wayne. Suzie is so young and thinks she's so smart (PhD material she tells us) that Dave gets most upset with her. They're just not "our" kind of people, but we can have fun with them when we're out here away from the type of people we do like to be around. I have tried not to say too much to Linda and Wayne about how we feel about them because I think everyone should form their own opinions of people. But now that they're going to be on national television, I wish I had said more. I'd hate for my brother to think that Dave and I admire them - when really we just sort of laugh about them. I hope I've said that right - we don't really dislike them it's just they're not our best friends.
[Well, now that we know all that it should be interesting to see how this friendship evolves over the next few months.]
Now, the Hansens on the other hand are just great. Dave and I both have a great respect for Erland, he's just nice, nice, nice. And Barbara may rule the roost, but she is genuinely a fine person. She has gone out of her way to be nice to me and although we had a "slow getting started" friendship, I'll always be grateful. True, they eat at the best places, wear expensive clothes, etc., but they've gone through lean years and they never make us feel uncomfortable. These are people we admire and respect. David Wayne isn't as fond of them as he is of Suzie and Gene, but the don't get down on the floor and roll around with him. David Wayne plays with Suzie and Gene just like he did with Roger and Steve next door. I'll tell you this - he behaves better and more grown up around the Hansens than he does the Dirrs.
Suzie has a job keeping an 8 month old baby. Since she is going home for a week Christmas, she asked me if I would like to take care of the baby. (I'm already keeping her puppy if the little thing doesn't die of distemper.) Do you think it would be alright? I'm going to call my doctor and ask him first before I decide. Besides the $5 a day I would earn, I think David Wayne would enjoy it. We were over there awhile yesterday and he really entertained the baby. David Wayne is looking forward to keeping the puppy, and if it does die, he'll need something to take his mind off that.
[It would be remiss of me not to interject at this point that dead puppies aren't much fun. (Look up that phrase on the YouTubes if you don't believe me.)]
Suzie just found out yesterday that her pup has distemper - it had been coughing for weeks. I got almost mad at her about it and here's why . . . She got the puppy at the animal shelter and they gave her a certificate for a free examination, good at any veterinarian's office. She wouldn't take the puppy because she said that with her background (and from what I can tell this includes two courses of biology in college) she would know if anything were wrong. By the way, she feels the same about taking children to the doctor! Well, the little puppy has suffered for weeks, with her saying it was asthma or an allergy and finally, on my suggestion, she had to pay for an examination and the puppy may die because it's so bad. I guess that's the premium you pay for being so damn smart - PHD material, my a _ _ !
[That really is how Mom wrote that last sentence, ending with the letter "a" followed by two underscores and an exclamation point.]
Well, I've rattled on and on, so I guess I'll close. David Wayne and I have enjoyed making decorations out of colored toothpicks and baking cups, colored paper, etc. - and oh yes, stringing popcorn. Please don't ever offer me any popcorn at your house as I'm sick of looking at it! But it's been fun. Write soon and take care of yourself and the teenager.
Love,
Linda
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