March 6, 1977 (Letter from Diane)

At the Springfield Museum of Fine Arts


Now that the winter that my dad says I can tell my grandchildren about is hopefully over, finished, ended, a memory, except for the potholes, you should really come to Philly & see what's left, besides the aforementioned potholes. The weekend before & after Easter are particularly good since I'm determined to see the Easter exhibit & orchid display at Longwood Gardens.  But if you can't come then, name a date.  Bev has a meeting the last Sat in April & we're both going home for Easter.  Otherwise, arrangements are flexible.

Christmas seems so long ago but it was one of the best, surprisingly.  I had thought that since most of my friends weren't going to be home at all or for only a few days, things would be boring.  Not so.  This year the McCrearys were finally able to drag Dad out of his chair for some socializing.  And most of my friends stopped by or called.  The week off really flew by.

Since Christmas, a lot has been going on.  Dad had his first major car accident when someone went through a stop sign and hit his car & kept going.  Luckily he wasn't hurt.  My aunt & uncle were nearly killed in a wreck two weeks later.  They've been in a hospital for six weeks & my uncle will remain for at least nine more.  Since he's nearly 63, he'll never go back to work for the railroad.  My car was broken into and the only things in it -- my insurance papers & maps were taken.  It has obviously been one of those bad times that occasionally happens in life.  All the more reason to look forward to spring.

How would you like to have a nun for a friend?  You may, if certain predictions come true.  Last year, my aide Kathy invited me to dinner.  Her husband's former teacher, Father Kelly, was also there.  (This produced an odd situation later in the evening when the party guests appeared & thought I was his date.)  Father Kelly is a very keen observer whose hobby is handwriting analysis.  He also has some psychic ability.  Anyway, he shocked me by saying that I had once seriously considered entering the convent (I had told no one!) and the chances were 60-40 that I still would.  This has been making me uneasy for a year now.  So Kathy had us both to dinner & a party again and I asked Father if he also knew the reasons why I had decided against the religious life.  He said yes & that he would write them down for me & send them through Kathy.  She also conned me into giving him my signature.  I'm most anxious to get this list and see how accurate it is.  Really, though, it is most disconcerting to have someone probe your personality like that.

Work has had it usual ups & downs.  This week I finally received my microform equipment.  But.  The people in the dept. dealing with office equipment ordered the equipment I had specified but forgot the paper for the reader/printer.  Of all the stupidity.  A lot of excitement is being generated by a million dollar civil suit one of the lawyers has filed against his former boss.  The lawyer has asked several people on the staff, including me, to testify for him.  Rumor has it that papers were served this week on our commanding officer (a colonel) and the Chief of Engineers in Washington.  No wonder our Personnel Chief retired suddenly last month.  And to show you what a bunch of yoyos these people are, our above mentioned CO went in search of our technical writer since answers to Congressmen's letters were going out late, badly prepared, etc.  He found out what everyone already knew.  The writer was demoted in a reduction in force last year & took a $2500/year pay cut.  It was too much & he left.  The Col. had thought that no one had taken any cut in pay.  Now here's the unbelievable part.  That writer has filed a complaint with Civil Service and if he wins (which seems possible) he will recover full back pay from Aug. 1.  And the C.O. doesn't even know he's gone.  I pray this country never goes to war because we'll surely lose.

Enough of work.  After all, I have to go back tomorrow.  But speaking of work, I'll debate the superiority of Spic & Span over Pine-sol when you arrive.  Love house-cleaning, huh?  In my more meditative moments, I have sometimes wondered if my life today would be different if I never had that ferocious hatred of housework.

I must do my homework for my needlepoint class tomorrow.  Hope to hear from you soon.

P.S. if you haven't seen "Rocky" yet, please go!

January 13, 1977 (Letter from Barb N)

Hello.  How are you?  I'm fine.  Not exactly feeling comfort inside but I am pleased with my progress since I have been back to Naples.

My flight back wasn't too bad but I found it uncomfortable sitting up and trying to sleep.  None the less I managed to get some sleep. Nobody mete me at the airport but I guess it was expected.  I never wrote to tell them that I was coming back the same flight as I had originally planned.

I went out & partied the first few nights that I got back but I found myself to be sliding back into the same rut as when I left.  Darrell was the one who make me think that I better change now before I find it too hard.  He only played his game on me too soon.

I set up my bedroom so I will be able to get at my sewing, knitting, cloths, etc easier and leave the room in order.  I bought a card table and I have my sewing machine all set to be used.  I also plan to have my macrame work handy.  So now is the time to be creative.

I am doing yoga 2-3 times a day.  I do the three exercises you showed me in the morning.  After work I do leg stretching and in the evening back stretching.  My middle back hurts and I found it difficult to sit in one position and type for more than five minutes.  Tonight I will soak in the bathtub.

I'm making my dinner which consists of carrots, onions, green peppers, rice, spinach, and tomatoes sauteed in olive oil.  After my dinner or during I have a glass of wine to aid in digestion.

I'm glad to be back but I'm not all that happy.  I'm going to find a new direction.  I hope to meet some different people who offer a little more in life.  I'm not counting on it tho.  I will just let it be.
I might go skiing this weekend with some girls at work.  I have to do errands so I'm not sure if I'll go.  I think we'd have a lot of fun tho.  I'll see how it goes tomorrow.

It was great being home with the family at Xmas.  It really warmed my spirits.  Now I know in my mind that my life is lacking a part to make me more at peace but I can't say what it is.  I will just have to keep my feet on the ground trying to keep a direction that is my own path.  I'm set to leave to start out to better roads but the time is not right for now.  (But we both feel the same I'm sure.)

Take care brother Paul.

I hope to see you soon.

I didn't go skiing this weekend.  I didn't make it up in time to go.  But I had a good day with somewhat.  Richard came over (he is a guy I've know by face but not personally) to look for hash with me.  First off he hit a car almost the same time that I just missed clamming into his car.  A few seconds later I was trying to get around a double parked car & I hit it.  Fortunately, I did not do any damage but the driver wanted my name etc.  While we were exchanging autographs I caused a traffic jam.  By this time my friend finally came back to see what I was doing.  His car wouldn't start so we had to tell his roommate.  After leaving his house I was turning my car around when my car fell into a ditch.  (Only my front right wheel.)  This was no ordinary ditch.  It was about 20 inches deep.  Our day was pretty much that way but I had a good day.  I managed to buy my hash.  The first smoke I've botten since I've been over here.  In fact I'm going to smoke a bowl now.

I had a good time with Rich yesterday.  So I hope that I will meet some of his friends.  We had some homemade vino that his landlord gave to him.

I might go to Munchen to see Pink Floyd in concert next month.  It should be interesting.

That's all from me.

March 13, 1974 (Letter from Renee)

It is I, not you, who should apologize for not writing in so very long.  I had every good intention in the world to write to you over Xmas vacation; however, I had a houseful of company from the day we got out of school to the day went back and then I lost your address.  I was sort of hoping that you wouldn't give up on me and would decided to drop me a line.  It was so very good to hear from you once again. Thanks for thinking of me!

Well, where do I begin to tell you about us and what's going on here in Columbus. Ohio?  First off, Morrey got his associate degree from Franklin University in Dec. so at least now he has a "piece of paper" to hang on the wall.  He also recently received a promotion at Loeb Electric and it looks like his future is secure there.  The money is not super great right now -- but there is definite hope!  I'm very proud of him and quite happy.  My job is just fine, I'm in my third year at Hastings Jr. High.  Things sure are a lot different now that I have a few years' experience under my belt.  I can't believe how easy teaching is now compared to when I first started.  I actually have time now on week nights to do a few things which I like to do rather than things I always have to do.  My kids are really great and I don't have any major problems discipline-wise so I guess you could say I am content.  I will be teaching in a special program next year (if our next levy passes).  It is called the House Plan and it is designed as an attempt to inter-relate the scholastic disciplines.  We take a group of 125 kids and the English, Science, History, and Math teachers all have the very same 125 kids to work with in a 4-5 period time sequence.  We can group the kids to work with them the beset way we see fit, and we can change the groupings whenever we want to facilitate special work and projects.  If the kids are assigned a research paper in History or Science, then the English teacher can work with them on the project since all of the students have the same 4 teachers.  I am very excited about the possibilities this program has to offer, and I feel that the progress allows me to set a goal for myself and work to my fullest potential to achieve it.  So much for my job....

Morrey and I have been busy socially.  We're on our second set of bridge lessons and it has really been hard for me to learn but I'm working at it.  We're just about ready to invest in a pair of combat boots for the two of us so we can communicate across the table-ha-ha!  Bridge is a serious game and I'm such a "joker" (no pun intended!).  We've made a lot of friends since I've been teaching and there's always something going on every weekend.  Morrey and I like to socialize but we also like just being alone and lately it has been really hard to find time to do what we want instead of what everyone else wants to do.  I'm really looking forward to this summer cause I'm doing everything I've waited to do all year -- sleep, read volumes of novels, sew, and be a real honest-to-goodness housewife.

Would you believe -- it has been a week and a half since I started this letter!  I started to write it just before my spring vacation and tomorrow I go back to school.  I drove to Warren for a few days to see my folks and I was bored to tears.  I read three books in two days and about a million magazines to keep myself busy.  I stayed in Warren from Mon. to Thurs.  Left Warren with 3-4 inches of snow on the ground and before I got to Corry I had an accident.  I've never driven in such miserable conditions.  I slid from one side of the highway all the way to the other side and knocked down a speed sign.  I wasn't hurt -- but my pride was!  I didn't damage the car very badly visibly, however I'm told it will take about $200 in repairs to fix our new VW.  I was heartbroken -- but also quite happy to walk away from it in one piece since I could have hit a tree or another car.  I stayed in Corry overnight with the Zalzneck's and came home Friday.  The roads around Erie were impassible and the visibility was zilch.  Once I crossed the Ohio border the weather miraculously changed for the better.  I've decided never to drive to Warren again by myself except in the summer time!  For all the money it's going to cost us to fix the car I could have flown to Florida and really had a good vacation.  Hindsight is always better than foresight!!

Well Paul, I could write some more but I've loads of school work to do before tomorrow morning so I'll close for now with a promise to write again as soon as I can.  If you have any chance of coming up our way to Columbus -- please do cause we'd be delighted to have you.  If you want to bring a friend(s) with you we have plenty of spare beds and rooms.

Be well and take care.