July 13, 1975 (Letter from Bev)

I certainly hope that summer has reached your part of the country by now.  The weather has been excellent here until this past week.  We've had rain every day for a week now and the sun hasn't even peeped through the clouds once.  I had been enjoying the nice weekends by going to Rehoboth Beach and even though I was only getting sun on the weekends, I had a fairly nice tan. Rehoboth is a really nice place -- a very clean beach and not too crowded.   This coming weekend I'm going to Wildwood and Cape May, N.J. to see what the Jersey beaches are like.  The distance is the same for me from New Castle to either Rehoboth or Wildwood.  If gasoline prices keep going up, I'll have to cut down on my travelling.  I'm paying about 58.9 for a gallon now.  The prices went up 5 cents just before the 4th of July.  If Pres Ford lifts the price control on oil, the price of a gallon of gas will surely sire. It's disgusting!

Did you get your car repaired?  I just had to get a new muffler and tail pipe put on my car and soon I'll need two new tires.  If I absolutely didn't need a car, I wouldn't have one.  But it's impossible to live without one around here.

I think I did tell you that I was playing on a softball team at the hospital.  Well, our season ended the last Wednesday in June.  The team that I was on only won 1 game and lost 8.  Not too great a record, but I really didn't care that much about winning.  I miss playing and especially I miss the exercise.  On July 25th the league is having a banquet for us.  I do play tennis about 2 or 3 times a week. My tennis has improved greatly, but I'm still not able to serve as I would like to.

Now that the fiscal year for 1976 has begun, I was able to hold a library committee meeting and order some new materials.  The committee was very agreeable and I've ordered lots of new books and cassette tapes.  I've decided to spend our budget by December, hoping that by spending it all before January we will not get cut like we did last year in February.  I can't wait to start getting some new materials in so I'll have some cataloging to do again.  (I'm afraid I've forgotten how to catalog!)  The amount of people using the library has picked up just recently and that makes me feel better.  The hospital just got 3 new doctors who are starting their residency training here. They're all foreigners -- 1 is from India, 1 is from Korea, and 1 is from Ceylon.  They're in the library daily studying.  I've never seen such diligent people.

In September, after I've been employed at the hospital for a year, I'll be getting a new job classification -- from Librarian I to Librarian II.  This doesn't mean a change in any of my duties, but it will give me an increase in salary.  It brings me up to the pay grades and that is a substantial raise.  On top of this I'll be getting a 12% cost of living raise.  The State passed a bill giving all state employees a raise effective Sept 1.  All this extra money is greatly appreciated, but I'm still looking for a new job.  The VA hospital in Wilmington has an opening, but I don't know what is holding up the process for filling it.  The librarian told me that he was definitely leaving the position and if I was interested I should apply.  I spoke to the personnel dept and they assured me that if I were qualified I'd be called for an interview. I had also written to have my federal eligibility extended for another year.  They told me that I would appear on the job list when the VA requested such a list, but the VA hadn't requested the list yet.  I really don't  know what's going on there.  The librarian has gone -- he's in the psychiatric unit of Wilmington Med Ct as a patient!  He had a nervous breakdown.  I'm just keeping my fingers crossed that I get an interview for that job.  It would be a much better position and I'd really like to get on the federal payroll.

Well, I guess I should write some more letters.  I've fallen behind in my correspondence.  I would also like to start reading The Moneychangers by Arthur Hailey.  It's sitting on my coffee table staring at me and being the lazy person that I am, the book may win out over the letters.

Enjoy your summer and write when you can. Take care.

P.S. Diane's birthday is 8-6.

July 9, 1975 (Letter from Barb N)

Hello how are you?  I hope your job is going better for you.  Is it still tense in the prison?

I am taking leave starting the 20th of July and ending the 11th of August.  Now that I decided to go home I am anxious to get home.  Mom said we will go to Mass on Monday the 21st.  I haven't seen the relatives in such a long time that it will e good to visit them again.  I think we are going to visit Cape Cod also.

I have decided to go overseas.  My career counselor went to D. C. and he talked to my OS detailer.  I had a choice of going to Damnek, which is a small base 20 miles from Norfolk.  If I stayed in this area I would move off base and since I don't have a car it would be harder to rely on another person for a rid.e  I also would not be able to go overseas if I transferred to Damnek.  So I called my detailer and he told me they had 1 billet for Italy, and a few for Iceland, Puerto Rico, and Cuba.

McZiemba changed my mind about Iceland.  He told me to pick Italy.  I would be able to tour Europe more easily.  I don't know if I will get Italy.  I will probably find out after I get back off of leave.

Have you read the book "A World Beyond" by Ruth Montgomery?  It talks of life after death.  I now believe in reincarnation.  I have also gotten any books I can find concerning Edgar Cayce.  I don't know how Mom and Dad will react.  I want them to read this book and think about what it does say.

Paul I wish I would see you again.  I am almost positive that I will be going overseas.  It will mean that I won't see you for another year and a half.  But I am thinking what I will do once I get back. Wherever you are at I will take leave and fly out to see you.  I don't like to lose contact with friends I care for.  Even though you are my brother I also consider you a friend.  I believe that you love from not seeing a person.  Of course, you can always get reacquainted with each other.

I feel at this point in my life I need to get out and receive experience from daily living.  I am happy about the position I am in.  I look at others I know and I'm so glad I didn't get into a rut of being married.  (I guess the Nelson's are hard to get a hold of at the altar.)  But there is so much that I have to learn through patience and experience.  That is another reason I choose to go overseas. To travel was one of my reasons in joining the Navy.

I feel an inner calm that I am acquiring.  I know how I stand with God now.  It was hard to find him with the background we had.  We could follow him as a religious philosophy and never come to peace with him or truly open our hearts and minds to what he is.  To me denying there is a God is denying the existence of yourself.  I believe the church wants you to be afraid of him like a shadow. He lurks and knows all you do.  The only person who knows all you do and will judge justly is your soul.  I never understood but now I do.  It's part of my inner peace.

I couldn't accept Christians who lived to save their necks by trying to "save their souls".  For me I couldn't accept my feelings of a God, but I could not deny them. I want to be a better person to mankind and not to fool people throughout my life.  This is what I have to do next.  I have to accept people as they are.

I was told by some English sailors never to trust anybody and they meant it.  I don't believe that because trust means a lot to me.  Sure you can't have someone to totally rely on if you can live by your own means, but you need trust between each other.

People can fool me by lying to me, but I will never fool a person by lying especially if I would harm a person.  There are too many people being lied to and one more lie does make a difference.

From reading the prophecies to Edgar Cayce, there is going to be a lot of changes from now until 1998. I think daily living matters more.  You have to find peace within yourself.

I am almost done with another working day so I'll close now.  I want to write more to you.

10 July -- Good morning.  It's another day.  What else can I say about it?  So far it doesn't look too promising, but I'll have to change that.  (I don't seem to be functioning this morning.)

Did I tell you I am considering going to school after I get out of the Navy?  That is after Larry and I go to Sweden.  I can't really say what I will do.  I would like to travel a bit when I get out.

I have a lot of friends who want to live in Australia.  I don't see what the big kick is about living there.

We went camping last weekend in Nags Head, North Carolina.  I slept in the car with the windows down and the mosquitoes got me for a feast.  Nothing I put on the bites have discouraged the itching.  I want to sick call and they gave me Benadril.  Just what I need.  If you were a pill freak you could keep a good supply from sick call.

We did have a good time in Nags Head.  We had a raft and rode it on the waves.  (You could fit four bodies side by side.)  When the waves would break we'd get thrown over.  The waves were pretty decent on Friday.  The only thing that would bother me was at night I would close my eyes and see the waves breaking.  I like water and I'm not afraid of it, but I have to respect the ocean.

Have you been hiking?  Do you like Montana, now that it is summertime?

I better go to work now.

July 7, 1975 (Letter from Larry)

I recently received your letter.  I owe Barb a letter but I wanted to write to you in reply to your letter.

You didn't enclose the cartoon in the last letter.

Bruce, Mike, and I went to Allegheny State Park this weekend.  We met the girls from Buffalo. We always have a good time with them.  We went to see them in Buffalo about a month ago.

It's been hot, humid, and dry here.  We need some rain.

I'm glad to hear you're getting along good without your car.  I wish I didn't need my truck, but if I didn't have it I wouldn't be able to do yardwork and haul stuff for my garden.

I was surprised to hear that your stereo isn't the valued possession it once was.  It is nice to have when you live alone.

I would really have to make a drastic change to buy a TV.

The tone of your letter sounds like something from The Mother Earth News.  If you can get a hold of Mother Earth you should read the interview.  They're great.  Like Paul Ehrlich No. 28, John Shuttleworth no. 31 & 32.  Paul Ehrlich as a couple good books.  "The Population Bomb" and "The End of Affluence".  A book I think you'd really like to read i "The Great Frontier" by Walter Prescott Webb, copyrighted in 1951. I got it from the library but never had a chance to read it.

Your letter didn't sound too preachy.  I've felt that way for a long time.  Something has to be done about the fucked up way this world is run.  I think we're in for some hard times ahead.  The simpler we live in the future the easier it will be to make it if and when times get bad.  That' why I want to learn as much as I can about growing my own food.  To me that's one of the most important things in life.  We could have a good life if technology was used properly instead of abused.

It's Tuesday nite.  The only time I get to write is before I go to bed.

I think the reason the straight press doesn't write about the greed of the big corporations is because they are controlled by big money.

People are like sheep. They will follow anything.  People are afraid to change their ways, unless it b ecomes "in style".

There are times when I'd like to leave this country and go to Sweden.

We can't go on consuming at this rate.  There has to be a big change coming in the future.

I'm enclosing a letter from the Cousteau Society.  I think I'll join it, the money would be put to good use I'm sure.

July 8, 1975 (Letter from Denise)

Montana Summer 1975

Hi!  I just wanted to drop you a little note to let you know that everything is A.O.K. over at the Walley's house.   Kenny's back from the hospital about three weeks ago just in time for me to go in.  Yes, I went into the hospital on June 24th at 2AM and had a little girl at 11:11 AM the same day, June 24th.  She has blue eyes, weighed 6 lb. 15 oz. and was 20 inches tall.  She looks just like Kenny.  We named her Wendy May.

The last letter I wrote you was the day Kenny went into the hospital, and I was so scared something was going to happen to him.  His burns were really bad, all 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th degree burns.  His burns were so bad that they (West Penn) were going to fly him to Kentucky.  West Penn didn't have any room in the burn unit, so that's what they were going to do.

When you get time, write us a letter.

July 7, 1975 (Note from Dave and Lyn)

Sonja

We hope all is going fine with you.  Enclosed is $5.00 to pay for our part of the phone bill.  Maybe you have paid this bill already.  Anyway it was sent to my folks address.

Say hello to Sonja and Homer.

Homer

June 30, 1975 (Letter from Grayce)

You are probably still arm fro basking in the lovely California sun. I hope your return was not marred by any problems at work.

May be you should tell me about all your ALA adventures?  Did you see anyone there that yo knew?  How was the job market?  I just realized that I'm writing on this paper upside-down -- typical.

Next Monday, Linda wants to me "show her around" GSLIS.  It's the last thing I want to do, actually.  II don't feel like seeing anyone from there right now, but I suppose I must -- did you ever stop to consider how many things we do that we don't really want to do?  Not things we hate, but just little silly things that clutter up our existence?  For me it's phenomenal -- I haven't much direction, I suppose.  Sometimes I just feel that we are all a bunch of cells bumping into each other, anyway and I wonder why I even try to do anything.  It doesn't seem to matter much.   Do I sound in despair?  I guess I do -- I really am not, so maybe I should remove myself from this line of thought.  I just have a feeling that this next year will be a landmark.  Either it will be a dormant time before some big decision or it will be a very busy time in itself -- with lots of change.  I kind of hope it's the former because I don't think I have the strength or stability now for the latter.

In August, Mother Seton will be "canonized" and naturally Seton Hill will make a big deal out of this.  I have been "commissioned" to do a display of scenes from Seton's life for the library.  We found some old prints which were done in black and white drypoint.  I am to give them color and tone and make a display.  The only thing I'm really glad about is that I get to do all this at home, and do not have "the tyrant" peering over my shoulder at all times.  I can't believe I'm getting paid to do something I enjoy.  They're even supplying the pastels, fixative, etc.  I have until August 1 to do 33 prints. So far, I've done 8.

This past weekend was a very nice one.  It was the Rohr (Brook's mother) family reunion in Columbus, Ohio.  At first I was reluctant to go since I do not like "big" things where I have to cope with a lot of strangers at once.  But we figured we had better go.  Brook hadn't been there for 4 years and his mother was pressuring us.  So...  Anyway, Brook  and I were put up at his uncle's farm about 35 miles outside of Columbus so we had a really good time.   I had never been on a farm before and everyone was anxious to initiate the "city kid".  Brook's cousin Terry just assumed that I would want to milk a cow.  I was terrified.  I'm sure the poor cow wasn't exactly thrilled, either, but somehow, after much giggling by all the farmhands and cousins and Brook, I did it.  I also got to feed all the baby calves with these gigantic milk bottles.  Brook got to bale hay (which did wonders for his allergy.)  So I didn't envy him at all.

One neat thing -- being awakened by cows and sheep in the morning instead of an alarm clock does wonders.  Those farmers certainly work diligently.  They never go away and I really admire their endurance and discipline.

I think I don't have much to say this time.  I'll be going home on July 11th cause Ange's shower is on the 13th.  I think I'll fly.  I can't stand buses and I'm more afraid of trains than planes anymore -- with all the accidents that have been happening lately.  I may take the midnight flight since it's cheaper.  My father will just be so pleased to have to come pick me up at the airport at 1AM.

Please forgive this letter.

P.S.  It just occurred to me lately that you might live near a desert.  (Do you?)  I know you will think I'm a real pain but (please don't  think I'm crazy) if it's at all possible, could you send me some dried weeds of flowers or baby grassknots or anything like that.  I know you probably can't especially now without a car, but if you ever do come across any -- could you?

June 29, 1975 (Letter from Larry)

It's about 8:30 Sunday morning and I thought now would be the best time to write.  I've been real busy and haven't had much spare time.

There's nothing unusual to tell.  Mom's probably filled you in with everything that's been happening lately.

Dale looks nice with his haircut.  I think he will start settling down after the summer is over. High school friends have a lot of influence on him, but I think Dale will be less influenced in the fall and start using his head.

Barb was home a couple weeks ago.  She really looked nice.

Do they have Mother Earth News in the prison library?  I've noticed in the personal columns where prisoners want to correspond with  Mother Earth type people.  I'm sure there are a lot of prisoners who'd like to read the magazine.

We're having our class reunion at the Youngsville Fire Hall.  I'm looking forward to going.

I'm hoping Mom and Dad go to New England this summer cause I would like to go.

Hope things are okay out in Montana.