Dec 1944
Dorothy Griffin to Maude / Arlington, VA
(start on page 3)
We are looking forward to the merriest of Christmas though. Paul is so thrilled with everything he sees. I took him downtown a month ago to see the window and stores. We walked in Woodwards and he delighted everyone in hearing distance as he exclaimed" Ooooh - see all the wed and gween!" John took him to see Santa and he marched right up and won Santa's heart, and said he wanted a "bag of toys." Anything delights and pleases him. He fished a red comb at the carnival and wouldn't trade it for anything - whistle, crayons -no! He calls it his "fish comb" and carries it everywhere, looking through it like rose colored glasses, playing its a train or an airplane. He has the greatest ability I ever seen of using everyday things and imagining they are most anything. He builds beautiful trails and tracks trails with a deck of cards, uses egg cartons for houses, tunnels and bridges, and is completely happy all day with only me around the house.
Bob, on the other hand loves company, always wants specific things, and I am slightly worried over his Christmas as I just found out by accident from a neighbor on the bus that all of his friends around here are getting wrist watches for Christmas! Can you imagine - with no cheap one on the market. Bob has said several times that was what he wanted and both John and I blasted the idea but quick since John ruined his own last summer in the ocean, and I told Bob it was inconceivable that he get one when his dad was without one. Oh well, this definitely has been a bad neighborhood as far as Bob has been concerned, because most of the children are only children and all of them are always displaying gifts we feel are too expensive and very unwise for children of that age. However, if he can gracefully learn the lesson of not trying to "keep up with the Jones" at his age he will be a happier man. He among the top few of his class. On visiting day I spent the afternoon there and while a few girls read as well, he was well the most expressive and facile reader of the boys. Apparently the teacher recognizes this too as she chose him to read "Christmas in England" this week to his class. With all the shortcomings of Virginia schools I feel he is getting a good foundation in the the three essentials, reading, arithmetic, and spelling, and those are the three that later on can cause so much trouble, if not well groundinding in the beginning.
I ran on to the most beautiful edition of Anderson Fairy Tails, I have ever seen, the other day. The whole cover is illustrated and it is in a plastic case to keep it nice, all for $2.50, so I got it for Bob. John has a hard time appreciating such stuff but I'm sure Bob's love for reading is motivated by his nice books and with Paul and Abigail coming along the books will all be well worth their cost. This fairytale book is a new series of Jr. Illustrated Books put out by Grosset Dunlap and includes Grimms Fairy Tails and Black Beauty, and I believe, the Arabian Nights, so I hope to complete it sometime.
I hope this Christmas won't be too difficult for Madge and that you will all have a wonderful time. You will miss Ben's children after having them so close to Christmas and after last year, but you will have Dennis and Linda to take their place so it will be a children's Christmas for you again. Mother is going to Marjories for Christmas as otherwise Marjorie would be quite lonesome with Vern gone. John likes to be at home so we may have dinner alone now.
Dad has not been at all well this winter. He has had a series of fainting spells and we are all quite worried over him. the doctor can't decide what is causing them and they have been giving him cardiograph tests for his heart. Mother, too, has not been too well and we are trying to talk her out of working on at the store when she has so much at home with a diabetic diet to help her, so busy cooking the right things for dad, but she is stubborn and gets a certain satisfaction of being with people all day, (like Bob) as she never did like solitude. I happened to tell her what the doctor told me when John's back was bad and I asked why old people often died after a fracture. He said it was because they became inactive and either internal organs ceased to function properly and that now doctors try to keep them on their feet and going in spite of pain because it was a better risk for their help. I immediately thought of Grandma Smith and decided that's her secret, and now mother has taken it up as her big alibi for going about so much.
Well, I should start over again so you won't worry about our attitude, but by now I feel fine about everything, so don't mentioned our feeling neglected to Ben or Marian as it never helps and little things like that are better forgotten. Best wishes for Christmas. I wish you were here with us for the holidays. Hello to all.
Love and kises, Dorothy
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