March 22, 1943 - From Northampton

Monday Evening

March 22

Dear Mother,

I have just come up from an extra hour of typing practice. It is certainly hard for me to learn to control my fingers. We are working for speed and it makes us fidgety.

Weekends certainly seem to go quickly when you would like to stretch them out longer and longer. Virginia met me at the station. She looks well and has evidently been having a wonderful time in New York. She is enthusiastic about her work and I think that I shall enjoy it too. She will be working on three day watches now - eight hours a day, and off the fourth. Their present schedule has been six days on and four off.

We did not do much but sit about eating and talking. Ellen had a bad cold and Peep was tired so it suited all of us best to be domestic. Ellen was fortunately much better on Sunday and Peep was tucked in bed early Saturday. So we all felt more ambitious.

After seeing Virginia off on the ten o'clock train Peep and I went to King's Chapel for church. The chapel was founded in 1686 and the present building dates from the early 1700's. We enjoyed the service and heard a really good sermon. Two elderly ladies spoke to us and both had gone to Smith in their younger days.

Train time came too soon on Sunday - it was hard to say good-by again for I plan to stay here for the next several weeks.

The current excitement when we got back was hair inspection in the evening. Mine passed inspection all right, although Yennie, our Minnesota roommate did cut a little to be on the safe side. There was much moaning and groaning as scissors snipped last night. Poor Jean - she is sure she can never do any thing with her hair now.

Luckily our platoon does not have to drill, do gym exercises or show off in any way for Mrs. Roosevelt on Wednesday. It is certainly a good thing that she does not have to see me exercising gracefully.

I am waiting for news about the suit. I do hope that you are not worrying about the thing too much. It does sound as if you are managing pretty well. I wish you could manage to get the Record work systematized in some way to save yourself some work.

What are you doing for excitement? I do hope that you are not too much alone.

I'll try to write to Grandpa as soon as I can. I have just been too busy to write to anyone but you these last two weeks.

I hope you can read this - I can't write any thing well tonight.

Love,
Caroline

NOTE:

Interesting that Caroline seems rather blase about the impending visit from First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt!

Eleanor Roosevelt at Pearl Harbor, 1943;

Perhaps she dressed like this when she visited the WAVES in Northampton as well.