470 3/18/1943 Helen Carlson to Sadie Erwin

Helen Carlson 401 Alexander, Monroe, Louisiana Thursday, March 18, 1943

Sadie Erwin 1120 Cole St., Enumclaw, Washington

Dear Folks, I had a nice letter from you today and enjoyed reading it so much I wished it had been ten pages longer. Thanks for the newspaper clipping. Do you want it back? The picture is good of the kids and Ruthie and Glad looks so pretty and is by far the best looking girl in the whole bunch. This afternoon I played bridge but plan to make that about the last game because I’m getting out of the mood for playing. This morning I had to take the car over to have the tires inspected again because the spare tire couldn’t be recapped it was so bad and since the gas station was only a couple of blocks from Sarah Jimmie and I stopped in and got her out of bed and she made coffee and then it started to rain but I had to get home to feed Jimmie at ten so we hurried home in the rain but it was really just a hard mist and Jimmie thought it was lots of fun. When I left the car at the gas station I had his tailor tot along to ride him home in. Elmer just finished tightening up all the screws because they get loose so fast and fall off if it isn’t gone over often. I was just thinking that this is the first time in our lives that we have had no idea where Jim is at all. We don’t even know what part of the country he is in. Have you heard from him yet. The woman at the beauty parlor said when her husband was inducted and after he was sent to a different camp she didn’t hear from him for two weeks because he wasn’t allowed to write or call or anything. He passed right through Monroe on his way to the other camp and the train even stopped for quite awhile but he couldn’t get off to tell her goodbye even so don’t worry about Jim if it is quite awhile before you hear from him because he will write the very first chance he gets. Mrs. Prest certainly doesn’t charge much for her eggs. Did you mean she only charged 40 cents for the whole four dozen. How do you think the meat rationing will affect you? I think we will get along o.k. but usually have meat every night for supper and it will be hard to think of something to have without it. I hope I won’t have enough points to buy lunch meat though because then I won’t have to make Elmer’s lunch. This morning the alarm didn’t ring again and at quarter to seven I heard someone pounding on our door and Elmer’s ride was here. We jumped out of bed and he told them to go on and he would catch a bus but they waited for him but he didn’t get any breakfast again. I guess alarm clocks are going to be on sale again though soon and I certainly hope so. No that colored girl never came back to get her money for her day’s work but I found out later, in fact Sarah’s colored girl knows her, and she told Sarah that this girl’s parents found out she had quit school and they made her go back. I think it is just wonderful your car is all paid for. Gosh it took us two years to pay for ours and that tied us down so much we said we would never again buy anything like that unless we could at least make a big down payment. Jim certainly did a lot of things with his money and it is grand that he has so many bonds. Will the army send you part of his pay since he hasn’t a wife to have it sent to. They probably will because Bob Carlson’s is sent to his folks. This woman at the beauty shop said when she went to see her husband she planned on staying at the hotel but the hotel was filled to the top so she had to get a room in a house. She said if I get to go and see Jim I should write to the hotel first and try to make a reservation but she said it is almost impossible to get a room that way even but I could probably get a room someplace in a private home or something. I would certainly take the chance anyway. Jimmie was eleven months old today and I just can’t believe it at all. Now when I leave him with Mrs. Craig I always have to give her a dime so she can buy them both some ice cream and it just seems impossible that I have a child big enough to buy ice cream for. Well Folks, it’s quarter after nine and I want to read a story so will stop for now and more later. Love, Helen