More Letters

My mom kept some of the letters I wrote to her over the years.  I like these for the glimpse into our growing family.  I think you'll enjoy:

5 February 1990

Dear Mom,

It was sure good to hear from you yesterday.  I hope you read that book carefully so you can tell me all the history.

I am in the process of disciplining your granddaughter.  She said she was all done with breakfast, and handed me her bowl and cup.  And then she had a bit because she wanted her milk again.  I told her that if I poured her some more milk she would have to drink it all up or sit there all day.  Well, she insisted on having it.  So I poured it for her.  And of course after one swallow, she said she didn't want it.  So, there she sits.  Alternately whining, crying, and protesting the general unfairness of the world.

David is meanwhile having a great time.  He is obviously enjoying having the run of the house while his sister can do nothing to stop him from playing with any toy he wants....

Love,

Bill

13 February 1990

Dear Mom,

Just wanted to drop you a note.  I guess with this new postal rate they are proposing (or threatening, as is more the case), it will be just as expensive to write as to call.  And to think that you remember the day of the penny-postcard!

Are you doing better with your problem?  I sure hope so.  I know it must be terribly frustrating for you.  Has the Dr. suggested anything definite - you did say he wanted to see you again this week, didn't you?

Well, the roof got fixed yesterday.  The roofer was very nice.  He said that the only problem up there had been that the person who laid that roof (the previous owner, I suspect) didn't know what he was doing at all.  He said it had leaked from the first rain.  Well, now he says we are set for 15-20 years.  He only cost $740, which I thought was reasonable, as he also fixed a couple of spots on the upper roof that he thought looked suspicious.

Lauren and David are both doing well.  Colds are almost all gone.   They were miserable when they were both sick.  Both wanted Mommy and neither wanted the other to sit in Mommy's lap.  I honestly do not know how Cindi kept her sanity.

Any more developments with Maupin?  I hope all goes smoothly.  I'm sure you will enjoy having them so near.

All my love,

Bill

28 February 1990

Dear Mom,

Well, it's Ash Wednesday.  Can hardly believe it.  Seemed like only the other day we were trying to get you into the Christmas spirit!  We have already had our daffodils (is that how you spell it?) bloom and fade.   We picked two big bunches and had them on the altar last week. They sure were beautiful!  They have been in full bloom since the middle of February down here.

What did you find out with Maupin?  I am assuming you went along.  Was the lawyer (or whoever) able to speak in plain English or did they engage in legalese?

Cindi has started her Spring quarter.  She has classes 8-9 every morning, also 9-10 on Tuesday and Thursday, and 6:30-9:30 Monday nights.  She is really getting excited about it all.  The night class is in public speaking - a class she thought she was going to dislike.  Their first assignment was to interview one other person in the room privately and then report back to the whole class.  Well, Cindi was the hit of the class.  They wanted to know all about home-schooling, her ideas on hospitals (largely negative!), and child-birth, and why on earth we would want a larger family than the one she already has.  They were so interested, that the teacher had to put to a stop to the discussion of Cindi and say that Cindi could report on some of these things in another one of her projects.  Needless to say, she is liking the class very much now!  She is already getting her "ammunition" together.

I am enjoying the extra time with the kids.  They behave (generally) so well that it is a joy to spend time with them.  I think I wrote to you that Lauren has learned the art of releasing David from his pen?  Well, today it went too far.  The little stinker tried to get him into trouble at nap-time.  Cindi got them to bed, and came back downstairs.  A little while later she hears the pitter-patter of little feet.  Goes upstairs to investigate.  Lauren is lying in bed looking innocent as can be, and David is playing in the middle of the floor.  I really think she thought, "Boy, is he going to get in trouble now!"  Cindi got even.  She turned David's crib around so the only way for him to get out is to climb out.

I am glad for one change in Cindi's schedule.  I am able to go again to Greensboro on Wednesdays to meet with the other pastors.  I have really missed getting together with them.  I'd forgotten how much.

Well, you take care!  (I know, "I can't do anything else.)  Can't wait to see you again,

Love,

Bill

27 September 1990

Dear Mom,

Hi there!  Just wanted to drop you a note and tell you that I love you and have been thinking about you.  I would dearly love to see you riding that bike.  That must be some sight.

I am glad that Shannon and Kim got by.  They are both so sweet.  I miss seeing all of them a lot.  I was so upset that my car broke down at Brian's wedding so that I didn't really get a chance to visit with them.  Maybe when I am up there after Christmas I can see them again for a little longer.

Kids are doing great.  Lauren has just started singing, and it is so wonderful to hear her.  She knows "Jesus loves me," "Twinkle, twinkle," and "I am Jesus' Little Lamb."  She still has trouble pronouncing certain sounds.  The other day she said "nors" for "yours."  I corrected her and asked her to say it again.  She blushed and said:  "I don't say it very well."  I almost cried!  I took in her my arms and said, "Honey, any little girl that knows to modify her verbs with an adverb and not an adjective says everything very well!"  She looked at me like I had two heads.

David is acting more and more like Maupin.  I am beginning to wonder... Do you remember how you'd shout your head off and Maup wouldn't even hear you?  His mind was resting on Mars or something.  David is just like that.  He never "hears" you until you get up, and then he comes down to earth long enough to run away (and I do mean run!).  The other day when he came down the steps he said:  "Good MORNin" just the way Maup says it.  Cindi looked at me and said:  "And who does that remind you of?"

Well, take care.  We miss you.  Don't you think you could ask your doctor about getting away for a visit?  It's been so long since you've been down here.

Love,

Bill

5 September 1991

Dear Mom,

Well, it sure has been some nice weather this past week.  I hope that it has been nice up there too.  I always remember your saying that in August the evenings start cooling down, and this year I could really feel it.  When September arrived it felt like Autumn was here to stay.

Lauren is going for her first dentist appointment tomorrow and is all excited.  She seems to have the idea that he is going to pull out her teeth, and what's more strange, she is looking forward to it.  Ah, the innocence of youth! Lauren is starting her learning in earnest now.  She is mastering the alphabet (writing and recognizing) and learning to cut with scissors.  I never realized how hard it is to teach a child to use them.  But she is very eager and enjoys cutting up magazines and making posters.  David is too young to cut with them, but he likes to try.  I wish you could see Lauren ride her trike around the yard.  She really makes that trike fly!  I am always sure she is going to end up in the ditch in our front yard, but she never does.  She is a cautious little creature.

Bekah is almost crawling.  She gets on those hands and knees and rocks back and forth.  She moves a little across the floor, but she buries her head on the rug to do it - which makes matters more difficult than they need be.  She also has her very first tooth.  She is eating cereal now every morning and evening.  She has tasted (and approved) sweet potato and peaches.  A true Southerner!  Her disposition is so good. A sweet little baby if ever there were one.

And then there's my stinker, my little Davie.  You just can't help falling in love with the little boy!  Last week, he and I were walking home from the library and he saw this woman a block ahead of us.  "What's her name?" "I don't know, David."  "Well, she might be a friend."  That's the way he looks at any and everyone - just another friend to get to know.  He is such an awful tease, though.  He torments Lauren, but he can't take it when she treats him the same way.  But boy are they companions in mischief.  This morning they snuck downstairs and trashed the bathroom.  They basically EMPTIED a container of baby oil in the bath tub and on the floor.  What a mess!!!

Cindi and I have started some serious walking.  She walks one to two miles each morning about 6:30.  I walk one mile each evening around 9.  I like the darkness.  Cindi starts back to school next week.  She will have class Monday - Friday from 8 to 9, and on Monday and Wednesday evenings from 5:30-7:30.  That gives me a lot more time with the kids, and I'm looking forward to it.

Well, Mom, it's after eleven, so I'm going to hit the hay.  I love you, and miss you.  Remember to drink some tea for me.

Love,

Bill