20 Jul 1939
John Griffin to Mother / Washington D.C.
Dear Mother,
I guess I have been a little dilatory in writing, but having to write to Dot about every day just about keeps me busy as far as letter writing goes, Anyway I was very glad to receive your letter the other day and find out how the family arrived.
I was glad to hear that Bob didn't cry when you took him the first time. He usually does. I guess, however, the train trip and the strange people made him a little more used to ail tolerant towards strangers. I do hope that you and he become very well acquainted before he leaves. He is easy to get acquainted with and I am sure none of you will have any trouble. I am wondering whether you are going to be able to manage him though while Dot goes to California. He is a job to take care of, I know from experience, and as he grows older I don't suppose that he gets any easier, I know that the few days we have parked him with Mrs. Israelson (since his tiny baby days) to take care of it has been just about all she could stand.
If I have my calculations correctly you should be having a birthday come along now one of these first days. I want to wish you many happy returns of the day and many more of them. The way I have it figured out you are 59. Is that right? I lose track and I guess, it is a good thing I do. When you get past 30 I suppose it is a good idea to forget the years as they go by. I wish very much that I could be home for your birthday and make a cake for you or something. Instead I will have to send along a little something for you to spend on yourself, which at any rate will give you a chance to get that which you want most. I hope that maybe in a year or two I will be here enough to home so I can come home for occasions like this.
I had thought that if things cleared up here at work I might be able to get away the last part of August to come out and get Dot, The way they look now though I don't see how I can do it. I have not had a vacation for three years now and feel like I need one badly. I am going to try and get a week off in September anyway to go over to the beach and take it easy. I was over there last Saturday and went deep sea fishing and caught 6 sea bass. It was a lot of fun and I believe in a week or so I could get rested up so I would feel like going back to work again. I got an overdose of sun at the beach so can appreciate a little how Gordon feels.
Have you heard from Mae recently? The last I heard she was ready to go on a trip to Switzerland and. they had just offered her an extension of her appointment and she didn't know what to do. Did she accept it? I was surely glad to hear that Donny was feeling better, Did he go back to England, I think it would be nice if he could at least go back there until the cold weather starts again. I don't think though he should take any more chances.
Dot says that it has been pretty hot out there the last few weeks. While you have been having your hot spell, we've been having rain and right cool weather. It is so cool tonight that you actually need a coat of some kind. It has rained most of the day and for the past few days . There is a northeast wind blowing, which means that there is probably a bad tropical storm down the coast somewhere. So far the weather back here had been quite comfortable but of course the summer is not over. No doubt we will have a good share of hot weather during August and probably September.
Dot has probably told you that I am staying here with Larry Van Dyke until his wife gets back the first of August. We eat breakfast in the morning then eat a heavy lunch and then a couple of sandwiches and a glass of milk or two at night. It is a very good arrangement except that it is rather lonesome. He is counting the days until his wife and kids get back. He surely misses his kids and talks about them all the time. I miss Bob and Dot a lot too but I don't even dare think of how much longer it rill be before they are coming home. You know I was away in South Carolina for over three weeks just before they left, so it seems like ages since they have really been home.
A lot of the people we know here are going into houses not building them but renting them. Some people have just built a new little red brick house right next to our lot out in Maryland. It is a small house but very attractive and very well built. It should increase the value of our property out there. I surely wish that I had some more definite employment here in Washington so that I could start planning for a house or some permanent place to live. I would like very much to get into a house sometime this fall so that Bob can have a room to play in and so we can get him a dog.
Again let me wish you a very happy birthday and many more to come. Write to me as often as you can possibly find time as I am awfully lonesome back here and word from home seems mighty good these days. I will try to do better in the future too.
John
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