In May 1947, Jim’s younger sister Mary was diagnosed with Tuberculosis. He writes about a visit with her in his March 1, 1948 letter. A family history written by Jim’s older sister sheds more light on a family tragedy.
“I miss you very much tonight for some reason honey. I wish I could talk with you and go for a walk or something. I’m in that kind of a mood. I love you very much, darling, more than this paper or pen can say.”
Scans of Jim’s twenty-eighth letter to Thelma.
“Life has changed a little. I used to come home home to spend the time between weeks of studying but now I just study as something to do between weekends.”
Scans of Jim’s twenty-seventh letter to Thelma.
“Can you think of anything to say besides “I love you”. I can’t but it seems rather silly to just write that over again & again. I can say it once and put all I have into it. The rest of them would just be echoes to keep you from forgetting it.”
Scans of Jim’s twenty-sixth letter to Thelma.
“Gee, I miss having you around to make life interesting. By rights, I shouldn’t go home. It just makes matters worse, but try and keep me away. It’s like trying to stay away from your own funeral. It just isn’t possible.”
Scans of Jim’s twenty-fifth letter to Thelma.
“I’m sorry I didn’t write last night, but I was tired and I wanted to go to bed. I thought of you all the way down to this old room and I even dreamt of you. Nothing very exciting though, you were just with me in my dream. That’s enough anyway.