14 Mar March 14, 1944

Letter
from: Mrs. Alice Shonkwiler
to: Pvt George W. Shonkwiler
Mar. 14, 1944
Tues. 11:35 A.M.

Darling,

Here I am again!  Surprised?  By now I s’pose a letter from me doesn’t even get
you excited?  Maybe I should skip a couple days?  No?  Before receiving a
letter yesterday, I didn’t get any for three days straight!  Isn’t that awful?
The home front morale will go all to pieces if you don’t watch out.  I’m sorry,
I know how busy you must be every minute.

By the way, does anyone

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wonder who Mrs. Wesley is.

Ronny just asked me if this was "Daddy’s letter?"  Now he wants to know if that
noise is an airplane?  A while ago the pump went on and he says, "Motor in
basement, Mommy?"  Just now he got hold of [a] telephone receipt and he said,
"What’s this, Mommy?"  Now he’s in the book I’m reading and turning the pages,
he says, "telephone book, Mommy?"  He’s just full of questions.  Wish you were
here to answer them all.  Now he’s turned his chair upside down and is trying
to figure it out.  He’s more fun and in[to] more mischief every day.

I stopped in with the Holmes’ [doing]

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laundry last nite and told them about going to Florida.  Marge just called me
on the phone from work and tells me that [the] streamliner leaves at 8 A.M.
and gets there 8:00 A.M. the next morning, which makes 24 hours on the train.
I got it wrong, as I had it that it left 8 P.M. and got in 8 A.M. making it
only 12 hours.  I should have known better, but of course I was going to call
again anyway, so would have caught the error.  This means all day and all night
on the train.  This is coach.  I don’t think it would be practical to

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ride Pullman, do you, as Ronnie would get too frightened in a berth.

It’s been raining all nite and is still raining today.

Last nite I went with OraLee to an International Harvester entertainment at
Fenger H.S.  It consisted of captured Jap and German movies.  [It] Was very
good!  They also had a professional stage show.  A magician (from the Bismarck
Hotel) a dancer, Dolly Bennett (from the College Inn - Sherman Hotel) and a
musical pet show.  Two monkeys who could play several popular tunes on piano
and guitar, and a shepherd and Police dog (I mean Great Dane) who did tricks
etc.

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also a marionette show.  All very good!  After this we went to Inglenook,
where I met Vince White and a fellow from Front Intermediate, and talked to
them while we ate.  Vince is leaving for the Air Corps next week.  He’s
bringing his wife and daughter (1 yr. old, Jan. 27th) over to see us before he
leaves.  His wife likes our house so well, she wants to see the inside.  She
wants Vince to build one like it.  Imagine leaving next week and still out
gallivanting with the boys instead of being home?  He sure is a funny person.
He’s only 22, maybe that accounts for it.  He asked about

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you the first thing, of course.  Oralee thought he was so good-looking!  I
never thought so, particularly.  He was wondering how he’s going to live on 50
bucks a month when he makes that in two days now.  OraLee asked me afterwards
if he was kidding.  She couldn’t imagine anyone making that she said.
(Confidentially I don’t think he does either.)  Lucky if he makes sixteen, as
Elinor says he isn’t as good as Ray Forest and Ray had never worked on the
floor before, except to help the boys once in a while.

De Mick is going to be Supt. now and Reed is being transferred.  Too bad I’m
not working there, as I really rated with De Mick,

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he thought I was pretty nice kid.  (No remarks please.)

Tonight Ronnie and I are going over to Hayes’ for Pot Roast and the funny part
of it is, we’ve been eating that at home for the last two days.  Elinor is
going out for dinner and to bowl, so she isn’t coming with me.  Guess it will
disappoint Edith, as she wanted to size Eleanor up, I guess.  Am I catty, or
did you make me that way about her?

I bought Ronnie a couple knit suits for his Florida trip yesterday.  One is
yellow and the other

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blue.  They’re real cute and [I] got them for $1.19 a piece.  I also bought
Bobby one and a pair of pink striped pajamas for $1.00.  I think that’s enough,
as she spent $2.25 on Ronnie.  It’s a size six, hope it’s big enough. (Excuse
please, I just had to kiss Ronnie’s elbow as, as he bumped it on the footstool.)

[Poem]
    "As my last salute today

     I’m content with this:
     A memory of two warm lips,
     My sweetheart’s good night kiss.

     Then a hope that he will know
     How very proud I am,
     And one last prayer,  "God keep [him] safe,
     While he’s with Uncle Sam!"

Didn’t know how poetic I can be, did you?

Well bye, honey and be good.  We love you,
Mommy and Ronnie