"Artzy" Art during World War II
Letter #5--Japanese response needed
Read the following letter from a civilian in the United States. Write a 1-2 page response to this civilian as if you actually were a Japanese bomber pilot who had intercepted the letter, not as the person she is writing to.
Letter:
JILL TO AL MARCH 21, 1944
Darling --
I started to re-read that great raft of letters I got from you
yesterday. It is a big job, particularly when it also involves rereading
other letters around the same time so I can get some
idea of the temporal sequence of your life, if any. Then I start
thinking of answers to things to say & end up by writing, not
reading. A very bad state of affairs, indicating disorganization of
personality, etc. etc. Also indicates obsessive love of husband
(tush tush), diversion of normal activities into phantazing (one
syllable missing?) of various sorts, abnormal dependence of
individual on persons or in this case person of opposite sex, etc.
etc. How I rant. This is what comes of writing by hand, and this
is the handwritten letter I send to you in return. Besides, I am
lying on the couch surrounded by your letters & could hardly
write otherwise.
I got some ready-shelled walnuts at the AP today & am girding
my loins for a big fudge-and-fury session. I know you like nuts.
Usually I have made nut-less fudge in the past. Today I also
deposited some 3000 odd coconuts in the bank at the corner,
got some papers notarized, shopped, did the laundry, wrote
letters to Day & Unk, mostly about the estate & am now
exhausted. I also had a beer with Virginia, & learned about
Charlie Chaplin's sex life from a friend of hers, a Carmel (Cal.)
girl. I had to see Virginia in the first place to borrow a dime to
run the washing machine. What a complicated life I lead! It's a
lovely springy day. All the windows are open & Kathy is lying in
the buggy in the living room with me. I washed all her bedding
Home Front and War Front: March 1944 1240
so she can't lie in it. (What an original speller I am). Marion
Gerson just called. She is getting married to Bob Cook
tomorrow. Now I have to buy her a gift & life gets ever more
complicated. I gave a Red Cross lady $10 at the bank this
morning, feeling very heiress-y. Now you don't have to give
anything. It is for us both. Maybe they will do you a good turn
some day, like getting you a book you want to read or a hot
bath.
Gosh, Marion called back & we have been talking for what
seems like hours. They are going to Boston until Bob's ship is
ready & then to Norfolk, poor things. This time last year you
were getting ready to go to Ritchie. As a matter of fact I know
exactly what you were doing a year ago today. You were waiting
on a street corner for me & I missed the bus from Falls Church
where we'd spent the night & I cried all the way home because
when I got to the corner you weren't there & I felt sorry for you &
afraid you were mad. (You weren't.) I remember the date
because I had the curse & since it was the last time I had it &
had to tell it to about 16 doctors so they could tell me when
Kathy was due I naturally remember everything very well. It's
funny how one treasures inconsequential bits of one's life, like
crying over a missed husband on a bus. I also remember the
waterfront place with the buns (buns b-u-n-s) you liked so well.
It was such a proper tea-roomy sort of place & I was always
trying to hold your hand under the table. I was always trying to
hold your hand everywhere & you were always pulling it away
because of one reason or another, having to do with status. I
didn't mind, or anyway, don't now.
I still haven't re-read all those letters. I'll try again tomorrow.
Now I have to feed our dear little girl, feed myself & make
formula. Kathy eats all her cereal now - about six oz. twice a
day, more than I would ever eat but I won't tell her. I put a lot of
sugar in it & she likes it that way. Kathy says "clean plates help
lick the Axis" & I hate her for it.
Darling, a million yearning kisses for you. I love you so much.
So does Kathy. Jill