31 Acacia Ave.
Ottawa
31st July 1952.
Dearest Mummy,
I have just been writing to Mil & hope the letter reaches her in time before they leave – I had no idea they would be so slow – the letters I mean. Your last nice long one written on Sunday arrived yesterday, so that wasn’t bad, but mine to you don’t seem in any hurry.
Thank you so much for your nice long gossipy letter. Cec & I both enjoyed hearing your doings and are glad that everyone is being so kind and giving you such a riotous time. They all seem to lead such a gay life after our quiet sedate existence that you must feel in a whirl! Milly & Ford certainly have given you a nice time & I am so glad that they are coming up here & that we can do a little bit in return for all the times they have entertained me. I was telling Cec that I am sure Margs & Monie would be wishing they could come along too & meet him as I am sure that in their place I would be envying Mil & wishing I could satisfy my curiosity! The sing-song must have been great fun and I can just see Ford in his element & organizing the whole thing beautifully. I don’t wonder that they don’t serve drinks when they have so many friends. I am most impressed with all the gorgeous meals you are having- you will be putting on weight! You kept talking of my meals & no economizing on food but I think the “Sim” girls beat me hollow. Turkey- scrummy! (Did Alan eat any or is it still hamburgers!!)
I am most amused at your tales of Alan- he sounds a bit too much like Bill to be much fun! Did he say why he had a suspicion he was to get a young brother? I should imagine Margs & Bill would be most surprised!
All your bathing & drives sound lovely, but I was wondering whether the camp was clear of mosquitoes now & if you were being bitten. We are having another plague just now & I sat in the deck chair with Lindy for about 10 minutes on Tues. & got my legs just eaten. One got into Lindy’s bedroom one night too & bit her face 3 times & one poor little hand has about 6 bites & one or 2 on her arm, poor little thing. But of course she doesn’t seem to care! Both Lindy & I had got little bits of snuffly colds this week. Two nights the temp. has dropped very suddenly after hot days & that must have done it, & of course Lindy with no bed clothes on. Last night we gave her an aspirin & I made her a little sleeping bag out of the pink blanket Lea gave her. It has a drawstring around the top & we tie it under her arms & anchor it back and front with a big pin. To our surprise she doesn’t seem to object at all & goes in it without protest & goes to sleep all right, so I am most relieved. She is beginning to get used to having her runny little nose wiped & even tries to blow! Theodore is a great success & she loves him! She knows his name now and when we say “Where’s Theodore?” she looks for him & goes and gets him! She chews him & when we pick him up & give him to her she always giggles & thinks it is a big joke! Of course she is quite the sweetest & the cleverest baby in the world!!!
Cec is being so sweet & taking care of me & seeing I don’t do too much or get lonely. On Monday, after wash day I was tired, so he shoo’ed me out of the kitchen & did all the cleaning & washing up. On Tuesday I ironed in the evening & he came & trimmed & fitted the kitchen linoleum & fixed the hot water tap so it doesn’t squeak! Yesterday evening Lee & Jim asked us over for a game of bridge, so we got Donna & went & had a nice time. They are thinking they might build a house now & had all sorts of plans & things which we looked at. They were going to Toronto this weekend as Jim’s mother is still stuck there.
Today I called Connie & she said that Christopher really seemed better today & had eaten his breakfast. He really seems to have been quite poorly, poor little fellow, & has been eating nothing & only drinking water & juice mostly since Sunday so he has lost weight & looks quite pathetic Connie says. Lindy & I went on a walk to the Library this afternoon, but we didn’t call to see Christopher as we thought he may not be strong enough to cope with young women yet! Yesterday, Cec was talking to Linda & began “Your boyfriend – – –” then he stopped and said “No, I’m not going to call him that. I don’t want you to have anything to do with that boy – he’s not good enough for you!” I laughed & laughed!
I must stop now as it’s nearly bedtime & I am going to have a bath. I feel I haven’t answered all your letter yet, as I meant to say how tickled we were at your huckleberry picking bath & the Vicar & his dog, but I had better leave it till another day.
This will be the last letter I will write to New York & I hope that all goes smoothly on your departure & that Janie will finagle a nice long visit for you with her & that you will have a good time. You must tell her & Bill to have a daughter – they are lovely! One nice thing is that St. V. at least isn’t so far as England & once we get our boarder we will start saving for our Winter Trip to the Sunny South!
Lindy sends a great, great big hug & a lick & lots & lots of love from us all-
Cyn.
A reminder note about Cyn’s cousins: Aunt Ettie’s 3, the ‘Simmons girls’, Milly, Marguerite, and Mona (Mrs.Banner) are all married and live in New York State, and Carol has been visiting them. Margs and Bill have a son Alan who must be about 12. None of them have met Cec, and now Milly and Ford Pembleton (the Pems) seem to be planning an Ontario visit in August. Cyn hasn’t seen any of them since her year in Toledo, 1947/8, but of course they exchange letters.
Carol will fly from New York to Trinidad and stay with her sister Auntie Trix, and the Otways, Janie and Bill her nephew, before going home to St Vincent. And Cyn and Cec are planning for a visit there in the future- it takes a little longer than they thought since my brother and I can both remember it!
A Family History in Letters 