07 Jul July 7, 1945

Letter
from: A. Shonkwiler
to: PFC George W. Shonkwiler
July 7th, 1945
Sat. Nite

Darling,

Gosh, honey, I’ve got the blues bad tonite.  Darn near cried at the table
tonite for no good reason.  I suppose it’s cause I still haven’t had a letter
(except for the June 17th V-mail) in more than 2 weeks, plus being the odd one
here in a happy family circle.  I guess I’m so envious of Jo and Claude that
it’s getting me down.  They’ve been grand to me and have done all in their
power to make this a nice vacation for Ronnie and me.

I was sort of frightened at the thought of being with them for 2 weeks, but all
my fears are gone.  Josephine is one grand girl and Claude is nice, too,
although a big tease at times (just like someone I know).

They’ve been trying to dissuade me from paying anything while here, but I just
didn’t feel right about

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it, so finally talked them into at least paying my share of groceries.  I paid
$5.00 for groceries this week, plus $5.00 to Claude for our shows etc.  Then
today I put in $8.00 towards next week’s groceries, which leaves me just $5.00
to spend next week and to buy gas for my journey home.  I hope I don’t run out
of money.

This morning we went out for a boat ride, then drove into town for groceries
and bought two live chickens, which Claude killed this afternoon.  (Jo and I
dressed them, which is a job we both dislike.)  We were lucky to get chickens,
as they’re pretty scarce.

I made a batch of vegetable soup in the pressure cooker for our supper tonite.
In all we had soup, tomato-lettuce salad, rolls, coffee and for dessert

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we had apricots and bananas with cream.

Our water pump went on the blink late this afternoon, so Claude made two trips
to Montcello to get it fixed tonite and it’s still not in working order.  We’ve
had to borrow water from our neighbors ever since.  Well, darn, I hope and pray
that I hear from you next Monday, as my vacation will be a flop if I don’t get
a letter soon.

I keep hoping you’ll get home real soon and that your stay in the hospital
isn’t because of anything more serious than you told me it is.

Goodnite, honey and here’s a real nice kiss and a lot of love from your gal
and Ronnie