February 8, 1971 (Letter from Mardi)

Here I sit on a Monday night at work without a damn thing to do.  I have just completed a letter to my mother and one to Barb.

I'm glad to hear you are experiencing good times in Buffalo.  I give you credit for surviving there this long!  How you can stand it is beyond me -- it's just that Buffalo has always been a bad scene for me every time! Except, of course, the time we visited you!  Let me make myself perfectly clear -- I HATE BUFFALO!

All is well in Minneapolis at least for the time being.  Anderson has been at his job now for over 1 year and I'll be going on my 11th month March 2nd!  What is the world coming to?  It's starting to scare me!  But I could never let go of this job now!  With school and work it really doesn't seem so awfully bad.  Not like I had visions of anyway!  No matter how hard I try though I cannot picture you student teaching.  Anderson and I were trying to visualize i t-- IMPOSSIBLE.

I can't remember what I've written to you -- I don't think too much since it's been quite awhile.  Anderson and I missed a chance of a lifetime when we missed Neil young in concert at the Guthrie.  Everyone was protesting because the Guthrie only holds about 1700 and you can't get a bad seat.  But they never advertised and they were sold out the same day tickets went on sale.  So we went down and protested with everyone else and like everyone else we didn't get in.  Richard Havens is at the Depot in about 2 weeks and Sly is here.  I'd like to see Havens and so would Anderson.

I have to close up BIG letter huh!?

Still haven't heard from Joan.  She and Freddie probably skipped town or the country.

Word has it that Barney might be coming out again and I just couldn't live through that again!

I must go and have a ciggie.  How's the non smoker coming along?

Take care, I promise to write a longer letter soon!

January 25, 1971 (Letter from Mardi)

How is the sun baked god of the golden Florida sands holding up in drab, dull, snowy, wet Buffalo, New York?  What a bringdown!  At lest you probably have a great tan that can actually remind you that you were really there!  I spoke to my mother and she liked it; only she was just beat when she got back.  They went to the Bahamas and spent a few days there.  (taa-taa)  Her plane trip home though was kind of a mess for her.  I guess there was a terrific ice storm hitting PA and they couldn't land Agony at Jamestown so they went on to Bradford and they had a taxi there to take her home.  Not too comfortable.

My trip back was unreal!  I got to Cleveland and not, not even one NW flight was flying into or out of Cleveland yet, because of the strike.  So I had to go to Allegheny and get my bags because they were checked on NW to Msp!  So this guy got the bags and carried them to United for m3!  HAPPY!  In Chicago I got on stand-by and I actually got in Msp an hour earlier than expected, hungry, tired, and grubby.  Never again.  Amen.  I was started to get "jet crazy".  I was going into this daze -- on a plane, off a plane, on a plane, off a plane, on a plane, etc.  After Chicago I would have gotten on any plane to anywhere!

So that is about the extent of my excitement since I've gotten back.  No, it hasn't been bad for January.  News years was fun and we all got bombed and collapsed into bed.  We've been tobogganing and skiing and Bill has been playing hockey.  So far we've gone through a carton of Ben-Gay and Bufferin!  The first week Bill's knee went out and he got into a fight.  My Bill! -- Certainly not my boy ----. The next week it was his other knee and this week he smashed his elbow!  I caught a really bad cold from skiing all Sunday and I was home Tues and Wed.  As y ou can tell, we are in good shape.

Everyone, everywhere seems to be in that slump.  I talked to Barb last night and she's just hanging in there!  Barely!  I wrote Joan and note and sent it to her home address.  I have no idea what she is doing.  I gold her if things got unbelievably bad she could come out here or go to Boston.  Naturally everything will work out well for Joan, I hope.  I haven't been able to get in the hang of anything lately.  School, work, the whole bit, except fun.  Which there is never enough of at one time like January-February and March.

I must close now and get to work.  Take care.

December 23, 1970 (Letter from Anne)

It was really a surprise to hear from you.  I wanted to write so often but I wasn't sure you lived at the same address.

I really don't know where to start it's been so long.  I guess you could say I'm doing alright.

I'm in my fifth year of school because I flunked.  I really goofed off a little too much.  And when I did attend school I never went to more than 2 classes a day.  I'm doing pretty good this year.  I've settled down reasonably well.  I figure I've caused enough trauma to my mother and a lot of other people.

I split to California last spring and got busted.  I'm on probation now for it and I feel I have been reasonably good.  I get off probation in January.  From what my lawyer told me, they were gonna throw me in jail for about 8 months.  I'm really glad I got out of that one.

The cops out here are really nailing down on dope.  There has really been an awful lot of busts lately.  I haven't been in any of them.  Thank God!  I haven't been doing much dope.  Smoke a little reefer occasionally but that's about it.

I went to Iron Mountain last summer.  Had a blast!  Best summer ever.  Nancy and I met some really nice people.  The guys have bikes and we did a lot of exploring.  I didn't know Iron Mt. had such beautiful places.  We would go back into the woods about 3 or 4 miles and find beautiful caverns.  I wish summer could of lasted longer but winter is here and I hate it.  I hate snow.  But what can I say.

Everybody in the family is doing alright.

I gotta go now. Hope to see you soon.  Write!

December 12, 1970 (Letter from Mardi)

Happy holiday to you...  Saw "Holiday Inn" last night w/ Bing Crosby and Fred Astaire -- great movie!  "I'm dreaming of a white Christmas bababa boo."  Old Freddie really had the class.  I wonder when they'll show "For Whom the Bell Tolls" and "Young at Heart" -- every Christmas, it never fails.  Sorry I haven't gotten a line out to you sooner but I'm getting my head out of water.  Tomorrow is my final in economics and Sat is American History!  I'm taking absolutely nothing next semester.  I'm going to sign up for a language and I think I'll take Italian.  I'm anxious to see if I can pick it up again.  Sue is dissatisfied with her job and is trying to get back to school.  She wants courses in physical therapy.  She'd have to go to Pa and get into school out there if she goes full time.  She doesn't know what she wants.  She's so dramatic about everything.  It's like living with Sara Burnhart or something!



Got to talk to Michael on the phone Sat and he's to be t school the 8th or 9th of Jan and he's having trouble with his father etc etc.  If he doesn't get established somewhere, he'll have a nervous breakdown of some kind, he's just too nervous to accomplish anything right now.  I really have sympathy for him.  So what are your plans?  Have you managed to take East or West!  You're keeping me in suspense, you know!!  Take care, see ya soon!!

November 18, 1970 (Letter from Barb Lucia)

It's a bleak, windy and rainy November day and again I sit and wonder "What in the hell am I doing here???"  Have have you been?  I talked to Mardi Monday night -- get this -- she and Anderson are now in Las Vegas for a week, starting today.  Bill won the trip from the Star-Tribune, since he's such a lousy district manager.  But they'll get the last screw in the end because he has to work Christmas Day, so can't come home to Warren, Pa 16365!  Maybe he ca get out of it somehow, knowing Anderson.

I'm pretty sure I'm going home for Thanksgiving -- I'll be flying the nite of Wed, the 25th -- one week from today.  Will you be anywhere around Buffalo then?  I could really dig a ride home with you, since no telling where Timmy is and if he can come and my Dad doesn't know how to get there.  Will you call me and let me know?  You can call collect say, Sunday nite -- late.  I should be able to stay home Thurs-Fri-Sat and leave Sun. So I'll be sure to see you then -- we can go to Shorty's stoned for a real bummer.  I might bring a guy home -- he will freak at the sights and sounds of downtown Warren, Pa, "Hooterville" -- what can I say?  It's going to be ugly there now -- blah!  Sometimes I even wish we were back on Lake Street in 95 degrees bitching about who should take out the garbage -- where shall we live next summer?  California?!  There's nothing new to report from her e-- nothing is uglier than Boston in the winter except Buffalo in the winter.  Yech.

Take care, se you next week sometime -- will we be graced with Mike and Mark's presence this Thanksgiving, not to mention Joan -- old friends -- ???

November 5, 1970 (Letter from Patty)

I was really glad to get your letter, I'd given you up for lost a long time ago.

I can't remember when I last wrote, so I don't' know where to begin.

I registered for school, went to two days of classes, and quit.  A week later I split to Boston and Vermont.  I planned on being gone til the end of October, but seeing as I had no money, the lack of food and the friendly rats in the cabin we found to stay in, caused me to only be gone for two weeks.  The person I went with (Wayne) and I hitched back to Syracuse and got jobs so here I sit.  In my insurance company operating the switch board and filing papers.  I guess I"ll go back to school in January since this company and working are really getting em down,an d also cuz I want to get back to my art work.

Wayne is living with me now at my apartment, but neither of us can take my roommate, so we told her we'd be moving out by the end of this month.  Problem is, we're having a hard time finding another apartment.

Anyhow, I'd really like to have you come up, but it might be better if you can come after we moved, cuz my roommate's really a bummer.

Anyhow, keep in touch and I"ll let you know as soon as I move.

October 23, 1970 (Letter from Renee)

I am so sorry that it has taken me so long to write back to you but I have been most busy since school began.  I am doing my student teaching at a junior high school (9th grade) this quarter and between correcting papers, doing lesson plans, attending my own classes on campus, and keeping our home in some semblance of order I find little time for much of anything else.  I don't think I have ever been so busy before -- and so tired at the same time.

Everything is fine with Morrey and I.  We LIVE for the weekends when we both can relax and forget bout everything.  Morrey and I hope to stay in Columbus one more year and then we are planning on moving to Atlanta, Georgia.  We have to wait until we can get on our feet financially though.  Out of necessity we bought a new car.  A Volkswagon automatic stick shift is what we got and I simply adore it.  I never knew such pleasure in parking before in my life as I have with our little red bug.  I'm hell on wheels!

Student teaching is really a chore.  It's exciting, and educational, yet it is a very insecure feeling -- cause now I'm beginning to realize all the things I've forgotten.  I feel like I could go home and read every nite for a year and still not have enough knowledge to use and bring to the classroom.  The Columbus public schools are really bad.  The system, stinks and is rotten to the core.  The schools are more like jails than institutions of higher learning.  The quality of the education the kids get in Columbus is many times below the kinds of experience that we were fortunate to receive in Warren.  Although Warren might be a hold in the wall as far as things to do for kids, it sure has some of the best teachers, administrators, and buildings that anyone would want.  I'm beginning to realize why college wasn't so tough on me like I thought it would be.  Half of the kids who go to school in Columbus and then go to Ohio State don't know their asses from a hole in the ground, and couldn't write a decent sentence, paragraph, or letter if their lives depended on it.  If anything Paul, we were really fortunate to have had the good educational background from the Warren schools.  Just come to the school I'm teaching in and you'll know what I'm talking about.  I thought I'd really like to be a teacher, and that teaching would be a real challenge but from what I've seen so far, I want no part of it in the future and I'm going to look for a job elsewhere.  It's all a big face.  Ha!  "The great American dream!"  Well, enough about school.

My parents were out last week to visit and Morrey was lucky enough to get tickets for the Ohio State vs. Minnesota game.  My dad really grooved on going to the game and I was pleased that we were able to get tickets.

In June, after I graduate, I think my mother and I will be going to Europe and on to Israel for a 3 or 4 week tour.  My grandfather wanted to do this as a graduation present for me -- and I'm really excited about it.  Morrey has two uncles in Israel so I'm sure it will be fun.  Unfortunately, Morrey wont' be able to go with us because of his job and also cause we can't afford it right now.  He wants me to go though, and I just might take him up on it.  It's really hard to believe that I will finally graduate in June.  It seems like I've been in college for ever and a day, and pretty soon I'll be facing that big cruel world out there.

I doubt very much if we'll be home for Xmas cause Morrey has to work, and I'm going to try to find a part time job since I have a month off.  I do hope though that you will be able to come out and visit us whenever you have a chance.  We have an extra bedroom and you're always welcome to come.  For Thanksgiving we're going to Chicago for a 5 day weekend, which should really be fun.  Morrey and I have never been there before and we're kind of looking forward to the trip.

Well Paul, I've yaked and yaked bout myself and I hope I've filled you in on what we're doing.  I must go back to grading papers for now.  Be good and take care-- and let me hear from you again very soon.