674 3/12/1951 Helen Carlson to Sadie Erwin

Helen Carlson 4008 Randall Avenue, St. Louis Park, Minneapolis 16, Minnesota Monday, March 12, 1951

Sadie Erwin Box 44, Enumclaw, Washington

Dear Folks, I got lots of letters today. One from you, Gladys and Stella and Mary got her nice letter from you also. I just got everyone to bed so will write to you right now. It certainly was swell talking to you Thursday night and I felt much, much better about Davy after hearing that there have been other yellow babies. I just knew you would call me. I would have written over the weekend but Mary came down with the chicken pox Friday and boy has she ever been fussy. She itches and is awfully uncomfortable but they are starting to fade a little already. She certainly was covered with them. The snow is still coming down. It has snowed for days I believe. Usually in Minneapolis the sun shines a lot all winter even though it is way below zero but this winter it has snowed so much that we have hardly seen the sun. This is the fifth full month of snow and everybody hates it so much and can think of nothing but spring. Mary says she has forgotten what summer is like. I’m sorry to hear Rose’s mother passed away. That has been another reason I have wanted to get to church to see her. This last Sunday I was up early and definitely planned to go to church and by the time the snowplow had been through the snow was as high as the car and it would have taken such a long time to dig it up that I decided I would just have to wait until decent weather comes before I can go. Yes, I did ask Mrs. Reed if she wanted me to call her every day and she said yes she thought we should keep in very close contact so I usually call her about 10 o’clock every morning and she calls me back before she leaves for the afternoon and talks and reads different especially good sections to me over the phone. I think she is just wonderful. Davy is coming along just fine. Under the artificial light nothing shows up at all, it is just during the daytime now that I can see any tinge of yellow and today he looked just wonderful. I believe I will tell Mrs. Reed tomorrow that I will carry on from here alone. I thought maybe I am relying on her too much and if I try especially hard myself he’ll benefit from it as well as I will. Her, Mrs. Reed’s, work has always been very quick and the change in Davy just this week that he has been home has been miraculous. The first day she worked for Davy, when Elmer came home that night, he looked at Davy and said, “he’s well”. It was thoughts that retarded him I think because I kept looking for the color. Thursday: Here it is the end of the week almost so I must get this letter off. Mary has been so bored all week that I have tried to entertain her a little during the day and haven’t gotten much done. Davy looks better every single day and he certainly feels wonderful. I had Mrs. Reed stop working for him because I feel as though Davy is well and I’m not one bit worried about him. Thanks for sending me the highlights in the Science and Health to read. I still want to do a lot of work for Davy since it isn’t entirely cleared up yet. Today the sun is shining and it is warming up a little but it will certainly be a wet spring with all this snow to melt. Yesterday I thought it looked quite nice out so I went out with the snow shovel and decided to dig the car out. Elmer’s dad saw me, I guess, because he came right down and took the shovel and started in. I didn’t want him to because the snow is awfully wet now and he has enough to shovel at his own place but he seemed to want to so I came in the house and made some coffee and made him quit shoveling. He came in and stayed a little while and then Elmer finished getting the car out when he came home. Tuesday night I played bridge, and to get out to the road I actually had to plow through snow up to my waist. I talked to Frances today and everything is fine at her place. We are going to have a shower for Betty Praull next Monday night. This will be Betty’s second child in 15 months. Leila Woodfill is also expecting again in May. She lost the one she had two years ago. Right now Davy is sitting up in the corner of the davenport playing with the little squeaky doll you sent him and some rattles. He doesn’t squeak the doll yet but he tried to bite it. I think he is getting a tooth. I think that it was a wonderful thing that Elmer thought Davy should be taken out of the hospital. Wasn’t I lucky that that happened. Elmer said he never did feel right about Davy being in the hospital but we’ll have to count it up as just a big mistake. Pop, your letter to Mary came Tuesday. She loves to get letters and also to write letters. She has been awfully bored being home from school all week but Jimmy brought her reader home so that gives her something to do. It seems amazing that by the time kids finish the second grade they can read everything. In the third grade they only have reading a couple times a week. Did I tell you Mary has a little Jewish friend in the neighborhood. They are awfully nice people. Carol is just Mary’s age and her brother Gary is Jimmy’s age so the four of them play together most of the time. Last Sunday Carol had a birthday party and Mary was the only little girl in the neighborhood who showed up. I thought that was just terrible. Mabel Bray just called and said they had buried her mother last Monday. She had exactly what your mother had, Pop, and has been sick for a long time. Well Folks I better stop for now. Thanks so very much for calling me. It did me worlds of good. With Love, Helen