July 19, 1963
Dear Tom,
Thank you so much for the beautiful birthday card.
Have you found out any more about that coin that might be worth $38? Is it one of your pennies? How many pennies do you have now?
We have been having some hot weather again. But last Saturday Gary bought a cooler so now the heat doesn't bother any more. I really do like that cooler.
We are moving tomorrow. We are moving closer to Sacramento. Our new address will be:
Our name
Del Paso Trailer Park
4428 Auburn Boulevard
Sacramento 21, Calif.
I don't know the ZIP Code but will let you know as soon as I find out. What is the ZIP Code in Winside by the way?
Have you and Daddy done much fishing this summer? Or have you been too busy at the school house?
These kids are really characters. Mary is trying to say a few more words. She says "side" when she wants to go outside, "ba" for bath, "good" when she wants a drink of water, and "hi" but it sounds more like "ha". When she has been sitting on the potty, the minute I take the tray off she hops up, looks in the pot and says "good girl". She says that whether she has done anything in the pot or not.
Dale is outside all the time. Really has fits when I make him take a nap or when it is time to go to bed. When it is bed time he says, "I never have a chance to play." Here he's been playing all day long and then says that. Another of his favorite expressions is "One of these days." "One of these days buy me this" or "One of these days I'm going to do this", etc.
Mary has learned to shake hands. She comes up to me, holds out her hand, and says "do-do" (that's Mary for how do you do). She gets so tickled when we shake hands with her.
Some softball team you have there. Hope your record has improved a little. Just one little win, huh?
Have a happy birthday.
Love,
Gary, Greta, Dale & Mary
Let's see . . . I didn't know Tom ever collected pennies, was not aware when zip codes came on the scene, am thinking the school house reference is Tom employed to work on the "new" school maybe, and definitive confirmation that Dale has always been a bit of a con artist (just kidding!).
I found some photos from this time and since the next letter I have skips to December, I'll post them both here. (Of course, it doesn't hurt that they are both of me being adorable.) Well, I take that back -- the first one says July 1963, but I have much shorter hair than the other photo which had 1963 written on the back. So, given a delay in getting negatives developed, the box photo may have been from some time before. Plus, I'm not really dressed for July weather in that photo.
The box you are in was a combination TV stand and toy box. There was a curtain that dropped down. You would crawl in there and hide. Sometimes I would hear this little giggle and there you were behind the curtain on top of the toys.
ReplyDeleteI think the other picture was taken in Auburn. If I remember correctly you had been playing in the mud puddle that was made by the water from the swamp cooler we had. I think there is another one somewhere that had you in the mud and with a skinned up nose.