Hello my Dearest;

I received your lovely letter tonight and darling it was a nice long one too. At the present moment I am listening to Mart Kenny and he is playing all the old and new songs and he is certainly making me feel better, but I only have 6 more days darling and I will be on my way down to you and boy am I ever getting excited, how about you?
Gosh darling if you only knew how disappointed I was to know that I had been out when you phoned. Marg said that we had just gone. Mother and Dad and I went up to Aunt Mattie’s and Bill dear she was lovely and peaceful. She looked just like herself. I think dear that it better that she has gone because she was suffering a lot. It was there weeks ago that I had seen her and I am glad that I didn’t see her when she was suffering as she had lost a lot of weight.
Your Mother has been wonderful and so strong, and Aunt Agnes was there as well. As we were coming out of her place, Ruth and her Dad were coming in. She died about 7:30PM last night. Your Mother had just got there and she said “Nell, move the chair near my bed and help me in it” and your Mother had just helped her in the chair and she breathed her last breath.
I phoned your Mom and told her that you had phoned and you can bet she will be ready for your call on Friday night between 7-8 and you can bet your boot I will be over there also, but gosh I will be so excited that I probably won’t be able to talk to you.
I had a wreath sent up to Aunt Mattie’s from you and I, it should be there the afternoon. She is being buried at 3:30 Tuesday afternoon.
Bill if I am being honest with you, it is almost too much to take. From my coming down to you, to working days and nights and Saturdays, to Aunt Mattie passing, Marg’s wedding and Christmas all on top of that I am feeling that I am being pulled in every which way. I am glad that I am making my way down to you so I can sort of forget all of this and just let time stop when I am with you.
Pop is just putting our Christmas tree up and it is a nice one. He wasn’t going to have one this year but we finally coaxed him. So after I finish writing this letter I will help Pop decorate it and I also have one or 2 more gifts to wrap up yet. Dad is going to Doris’ to pick up our dresses and I am just dying to try it on and I think I will being it down with me. I don’t care if I get a chance to wear it out or not, but just to show it off to you in our own little room would be grand.
We got a nice tablecloth from Nan Wilson, my curiosity go the best of me and I had to open it. They are leaving Windsor Christmas day as they are coming up for Marg’s wedding.
Gosh Marg is getting excited now, she is a wee bit worried about Ted as she thought she would have heard from him by now because he is supposed to arrive tomorrow morning. But she does not dare go ask the Simpsons as she is trying her best to avoid them all together.
Your Pop is fine dear except that he has a wee bit of a cold, but it is not a bad one. I’ll bet you are taking a kidding from the fellows down there as I am taking a kidding from everyone up here as they are going to be watching me like a hawk when I get back (I wonder why).
Well my dearest I really have to finish now as poor Pop is having an awful job trying to decorate the tree by himself, and Beverley is screaming her head off, but I am sure everything will turn out OK in the end.
So my dearest I will be looking for you at the station. I will try and write you Friday night, so darling wishing you with all my heart a Very Merry Christmas and I hope you have a nice time but I will be thinking about you all day and waiting to hear your voice.
So darling loving you with all my heart,

Doreen

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Hello Darling;

It is now 9PM Sunday night and I just thought I would write you a few lines, this won’t be a long letter as I haven’t much news to you tell you at this time.
I am feeling much better now dear except that I have not been outdoors since Thursday night and Marg has been in too, she is worse than me so she is trying to get better as Ted arrives home next Wednesday.
We have company tonight, we have Auntie Bessie, Uncle Stand, Auntie Polly, Uncle Bill and Mrs Simpson (oh yeah) so we have quite a houseful. Gosh I hope Halifax isn’t any colder than what it is in Toronto. I was 22 below zero this morning and upstairs was just like cold storage, but downstairs is very warm, in fact it is too warm. I am just melting away while I am writing this letter. Pop and Uncle Bill are out in the garage trying to get Pop’s car to start as it has frozen up on him but I don’t think they are having any luck. Uncle Stan is just going out to help them as their bumpers have locked.
Marg has just gone upstairs to show them her wedding presents and so far she has received some lovely gifts. I was talking to your Mother today and she was going up to see Aunt Mattie as she wasn’t so good today. I must try and go up and see her next week but if I don’t get the chance I will go up on Christmas day.
Your Mother was talking to Mrs. Hawkins yesterday and that was right about Stan being in an accident. She did not say how it happened except that he had been in hospital for 3 days and was cut over the eye. He was also saying that he is trying to get into the Spitfires instead of the Flying Bombers. Oh I think I told you that you had received a card from Alex. We also received a card from good O’l Don Riggs, I received it on Saturday. I guess he must still be in Ottawa.
I wrapped all my Christmas presents and addressed all my cards today, so now I feel a lot better. I am sending a card to Mrs. Dean and Mrs. Henderson, but if you want to send them a card as well it will be OK.
Mrs Simpson had a letter from Ted yesterday and he was telling her how he had just missed being int hat terrible fire in Newfoundland. It seems he was on his way over there when he met 2 of his chums and they persuaded him to go to some club (surprising, no) and that is how he missed being there but quite a few of his chums were hurt, so he sure was lucky.
Gosh dear there seems to something funny about these fires. It always seems to happen where the men in uniforms are. The men have just come in from the cold and they cannot get the car to start. They are now kidding me that you will have to be awful hot to keep me warm in Halifax and I just told them they didn’t know my husband, but I do, so you better start getting yourself nice and hot.
Well my darling I think I will finish now and get ready for bed, but as I always say no future in going to bed by yourself. I will write you on Tuesday, so my dearest loving you with all my heart,

Doreen

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Hi Dearest:

I received your very nice letter this morning and it was a surprise because I was not expecting one and I had one on Monday and Tuesday. I did not got to work today as I have an awful cold and it seems to be all in my throat as I can hardly talk. They are all kidding me around here as they said it is like heaven.
Marg was off work today also as she has had an awful sore throat, there must be something going around. I was in bed about 9PM last night and Dad brought me spa hot drink and some Aspirins so I am going to bed as soon as I finish your letter because I am going to work tomorrow.
I was talking to your Mother today and she is fine. She goes up to Aunt Mattie’s this afternoon and she is just about the same. Aunt Agnes gave her some money for your Christmas present but instead of sending it down to you, she is going to give it to me to take down to you. Will that be OK? We had a nice card from those friends of yours in Philadelphia, so I am going to get the address for you and would you mind sending them one too? I am going to write all my cards and wrap all my presents on Sunday and get that off my mind because next week we will be very busy.
You were saying Bill dear that we could buy the dishes and the cutlery down there but I will take some of our own dishes and I will buy some cutlery here as I think it will be much cheaper. I am also going to take my toaster down with me in the case we may need it.
Grandpa has just came in and boy is it ever cold. We had quite a snowfall last night and the snow is very deep. Mother and Dad are just going up to see Aunt Agnes as they are going to buy the house. Mother was down at the War Time Price and Trade Board today finding out all about it so I think they can get it OK, but we don’t know for sure but they are going up to see her anyways to get things settled up just in case everything goes according to plan. Mother got her notice for this house and we have to be out by March 20th.
I went down yesterday and got my berth and the man said I was lucky because that was just about the last one, so everything is OK dear. Just think in 9 days darling and I will be on my way down to you and dear if you only knew how much I am looking forward to getting down to you, but you will see for yourself when I get down there. I am getting terribly excited because my darling it will be about 4 months since I last saw you and it seems years. They are just playing “when you are a long, long way from home” on the radio and I think it should be a long long way from someone you love.
Oh I forgot to tell you dear you received a lovely Christmas card from Alex Aitken, your Mother was telling me but I guess she will be forwarding it on to you. She was also talking to Jack Arther and Alex is still in England and she said something about him becoming a Flight Lieutenant and that he was going to get in with Stan. She was also telling Jack that you had been talking to his chum. Gosh dear pretty soon there will not be any fellows around here. It seems funny walking along the Danforth as you walk for blocks and never see anyone you know but there are still a lot of fellows not in uniform.
I am going to find out about my cabin trunk and Bill if I can get it checked on the train I may as well do that because it won’t cost me nothing, but I will let you know whatever I decide to.
That is very nice of the landlady to do the washing of our bedding. I hope I won’t be too much bother to her but perhaps she could help me with the cooking if I do any, but we will see about that when I come down, but darling as I said before do not expect much.
By the way darling I am not sure what to expect of Halifax, as you really have only told me about the station and the shows that you go to. Is it the same as it is here? I hope I can certainly fit in with the other Air Force wives.
So dearest I will close now but I will write you on Sunday.
All my love my darling,

Doreen

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Hello Darling:

Well I’ve finished reading your letter and I forgive you for not writing sooner but I guess you have been pretty busy. I hope you forgive me to because I did write a letter on Sunday but since I wasn’t going out of the station and I wanted it to go right away so I gave it to one of the fellows to post but he forgot to mail it so I lost a day. But I’m going to make up for it in this letter as I hope it will be a new long one.
Well first I went over to see Mrs. Mullens, the landlady, yesterday afternoon and I’ve got all the final details. First it is going to cost us only $7 a week for both of us. That isn’t bad at all dear seeing as how she said that you can use her stove, in fact she said she would give you your breakfast too. But of course dear we will be inconvenienced for a while until we get all organized. Oh yes, she said that she would give us sheets and pillow cases too and wash them but I told her that you would be bringing some down, but she will wash them every week for us so that is another worried settled.
I’m glad that you have your tickets and you did not say anything about your berth. In case you forget don’t forget to make a reservation for it and I guess you will have to pay in advance and another thing when you get off the train at Montreal ask the conductor where the sleeper for Halifax is and you can grab your seat early and if you have much time to spare you could stretch your legs and go for a little walk but don’t go very far darling because it might not be so safe for a girl all by herself.
I have a better idea about that big trunk dear, you could send it down as soon as you know what you are going to send because it might not arrive here until later particularly with the Christmas rush. I don’t know for sure but I thick that you can send it on your ticket if not it would be well worth it to pay $5.00 or so to get it sent right to the door well anyway you can phone the C.N.R Express and find out the best way to send it. If you send it right here to the address, Mr. W.A Lewis C/O Mrs Mullens 92 Dublin St, Halifax N.S. I told her that is what you might do so she is expecting it.
I’m feeling pretty blue about Aunt Mattie but you know that old saying “God moves in mysterious ways, his wonders to perform”. So I guess that is the best way to look at it. Just between you and me I’d rather dubious about getting leave to go home if anything happens because in cases like that you can only get leave when the deceased person is a blood relative like Mother or Father, brother and sister. But I’m hoping for the best. So I guess that is all I can do for now.
I hope you have done OK with our Christmas presents dear. I bought Mom and Dad a little something and don’t forget to buy your Mother and Father something real nice too. By the way dear you should get your cheque around the 21st, so if you really don’t need the money dear you can bring it down here because it would be safer than carrying around some loose cash with you and incidentally I guess we will have to buy some dishes and cutlery and a few little things but we won’t really have to buy very much. But it is a good thing to have some loose cash kicking around.
Is the radio ever working swell. I can usually get about 15 stations on after 9 o’clock and there really is some grand bands on the air down here but we aren’t getting any from Boston lately because they’ve closed all the night clubs down until they investigate that big fire.
Well dear 2 weeks tonight I’ll be the happiest guy in the world so you know why? Because I’ll be with the sweetest girl I’ve ever known and honey that isn’t any one but you. But I’m going to save everything that is in my heart until I see you and then will I ever make up for lost time and that is in more ways than one.
I think I told you about the fellow in our barracks who is bringing his wife down from Vancouver on the 23rd. She is leaving on the 18th, I’m glad that you don’t have to come so far because that is really so far to come alone but someday dear you and I will make that trip right across Canada, so don’t forget that I promised you that.
I’m glad that Pop is so fond of Beverley because he will be used to one, especially when we have our. What do you say darling nothing would make me so happy as having a daughter exactly like her very sweet and darling Mother. Now, I really do not have any further comments on the Simpson clan, I just hope Marg knows what she is getting into with them, as they really have shown their true colours up to this point haven’t they?
So for now dear, love from your husband who is saving all his……………………for the 29th.

Bill

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Hi Darling:

I received your grand letters yesterday and today and darling they were really nice.
I won’t have very much news for you seeing as how I wrote you on Sunday, but I will give you all the gossip I can. Pardon me while I change nibs. I have just come in from dress hunting but I didn’t have any luck because I want to get something nice that you would like and gosh is it ever cold and it sure is snowing. I’ll bet we will have a few inches of snow by tomorrow morning. This is Aunt Jessie’s night off from work so her and Mother came with me but I will go out on Saturday night instead of going to the show because that is the only night I will have a chance to. Tomorrow night and Friday night I will have to work, boy what fun, but we will have fun tomorrow night because the boos isn’t going to work so you can bet there won’t be much work done.
Thursday night I am going to a party with Mom and Dad, Aunt Jessie and Marg and I really do not want to go but wants me to go, and you know how she can be when she sets her mind on something.
Darling just think 2 weeks time we will be together again and that darling is what I have prayed for since you went down to Halifax and my prayers are being answered.
What is this surprise you have for me? Gosh I can hardly wait to hear it, boy it must be good but I won’t coax you because I know you won’t tell me until I see you, but boy I sure am getting impatient and also impatient for other things and darling I hope you are ready to help me out.
Marg had a wire from Ted last night telling her not to write him anymore as he would be leaving on the 21st, so you can bet that Marg is pretty excited, in fact she is almost excited as I am about coming down to you but I don’t think anybody could be as excited as I am right now.
Darling that would be grand if that other friends wife and I got to be friends because we could have a lot of fun on the day time while our husbands are working but darling don’t expect too much of my cooking because you know how bad I am and I would like to be real good before I started inviting people for dinner but who knows perhaps I will learn fast.
We were down at Doris’ last night and had our final fitting on our dresses and they are lovely. I was just wondering Bill if I should bring it down with me so I could show you. Do you think there might be a chance of me wearing it New Years Eve? Be sure to let me know because I would love you to see it but I will wait until I hear from you.
Doris also broke the news that she and Bob are planning on being married on the 13th of February if all goes well. Isn’t that grand but I have been telling her to hurry up and get married because she certainly is missing a lot and all our friends are telling my Mother that Doreen is sure looking good and darling I sure am feeling good. How about you are you in good shape? I hope so.
I was talking to your Mother tonight and she was all tickled because she had a letter from you yesterday. She was going to see Aunt Mattie tonight as she goes up every night.
She was saying that your Dad had gone to a Union meeting or something tonight as there is some rumour that they might be putting the jewellers in war work, but it might just be a rumour. She also had a Christmas card from Bob Duff today. Did I tell you that Lloyd met his brother overseas? I’ll bet they are having a swell time. No dear I don’t think Stan has been in an accident because I think you Mother would have heard from someone on the street.
I got your Uncle Jack a nice pair of socks, and Aunt Agnes and your Mother underwear and I also got your Mom stalkings but I thought it would be nice if I had some flowers delivered to Aunt Mattie on Christmas Day from us. This friend of Marg’s down at work had a friend who has a flower shop and she will get me a nice bunch of flowers. She was the one that got my flowers for our wedding, but you let me know if that is OK, or if we should get her something else but I don’t know what else to get her.
You should see Pop here, he is folding the baby’s diapers and is he ever getting good and guess when you turns comes you will have to take lessons from him. He puts her to bed every night and does she ever know him. Boy he certainly loves her. They got her a new bed yesterday because she was getting too big for her other bed and she fell out of it on Sunday and we all got a scare but she didn’t hurt herself.
Darling I think I explained to you about the cabin trunk, but I thought it would be a better idea to check it on the same train as the one I am on because if I send it down ahead of me there might be some delay in getting there and another thing I will get it checked in the baggage car for free.
Well dear I really must finish now as I am very tired but I will try and write you Thursday. I am so excited to come down and see you, and have you hold me in your arms and let the world drift away.
So dearest all my love until I see you in 2 weeks time,

Doreen

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Hello Darling;

Well here it is Sunday at 10 o’clock dear and I’ve just had my dinner and what a dinner, steak and onions and cabbage and potatoes and for dessert ice cream and cake and I’m getting so greedy I had 2 servings of everything.
Well dear you should have received your train ticket by now. I’m expecting a letter from you this afternoon dead and I guess you would have mentioned it in your letter dear and just think it will be only 2 more weeks and we will be together again. So you realize dear that it will have been 4 months since I’ve seen you and it seems a very long time ago.
How are you coming with the shopping? It will certainly be a big job for you to get all your gifts wrapped and then get ready to come down here. So you had better get a lot of rest and sleep because I would not want anything to happen to you dear.
Well dear it is 5 hours later since I began writing this letter. I don’t know if you knew Jack Kennedy or not, he used to live at the corner of Wolverleigh and Linsmore, well anyway he dropped in to see a friend of his in our barrack and I happened to see him. He had heard that Stan had been in an accident overseas but I told him that I didn’t think that was right because I would have heard from you if anything had happened.
I did not receive a letter today darling but I guess the mail has been held up because I have not had one since Thursday. I wrote a letter to my Mother on Thursday and I tried to cheer her up but I imagine that she feels pretty badly. I just wish that I would do something but I’m afraid that there isn’t much I can do but hope.
The weather down here has really been pretty good, you could have gotten away without a great coat on today and I just hope that it lasts for when you come down here dear.
Let me see now, oh yes have you got enough luggage because if you have not you can use my Zipper bag that is really a great bag and you can lock it. I was thinking dear that you don’t have to bring those blankets and pillow slips and towels with you. Send everything that you think we will need down in the trunk and have it sent to Mrs Mullens at 92 Dublin St Halifax. I am going over to see her tomorrow and get the final lowdown of everything and I’ll let you know what the score is as soon as I can.
We have a new fellow in our section and he is from Vancouver and she is also married well anyway he went out on Saturday and also got a room and he is bringing his wife all the way from Vancouver. It is going to cost him about $130, some trip eh? He hopes that you and his wife can get to be good friends because she doesn’t know a person here either. I think we could have a lot of fun if we could make friend with another couple dear and as soon as you learn to cook we could have them over and we could visit them. In fact dear we already have an invitation.
I wrote my Mother and asked her to try and borrow Aunt Mattie hot stove because that is all Captain Davis’ wife cooked with and boy did she ever put up a good meal. Pardon me dear, but there is a fight going on here and I have to move where I am writing. I am clear now and I can start again. A couple of the boys are having a little fun here and as I want to get this letter finished I don’t want to have any interference.
As I was saying before I was interrupted have you got a trunk or box yet to send your stuff down in yet because it won’t cost you much more than $5.00 to send it down and it will save you bringing a lot of stuff down and then all you will need to carry is your own personal things like nighties (oh boy) and those very cute panties but it is bad to think like that dear so I will not go on.
I am just telling you again dear buy yourself some nice clothes to bring down here because I want you to be the best dressed little girl at our dances dear and that won’t be hard for you dear. You are so darn cute and sweet and more than that I love you more than anything else in this whole world dear and you know that I always will no matter what happens.
By the way I hope you bought Mom and Pop Booth something real nice from me dear and especially my little sister-in-law. I just hope that I have my own daughter next Christmas to buy all sorts of things for and wouldn’t that be just wonderful dear, and once this war is over we will be so happy to have our own little family.
Well I guess Marg is getting rather nervous now, it won’t be long now. I just hope that they get along as well as we do dear and I know it won’t be Marg’s fault if they don’t, but I will not say anymore on the subject.
Well dear I had better get this letter away before the mail goes and so dear until we meet, I’ll just say loving you so very, very much and can’t wait to see you in 2 weeks in which we will have our second honeymoon in less than a year.
Love from the very bottom of my heart,

Bill

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Hi Darling;

Well darling here I am again that awful wife of yours who hasn’t written you since last Tuesday, but then I am not the only now who is bad, as I only had one letter from you last week which was on Tuesday. I thought I would have had one yesterday but no luck, but I hope I have one tomorrow.
Well dear it is now Sunday night about 9PM and I have just come back from the Danforth as I had to go down and get a writing pad and stamps as Marg used everything up writing Ted, again! Boy was it sure cold out. I ran all the way home, gosh darling I sure wish you were here to keep me warm but just think darling 2 weeks time and I will be with you and oh boy, what a time we will have.
I have been real busy at this house this last week and between the excitement of the coming down to you and working nights I am almost a wreck (Oh yeah!) I feel as fresh as a daisy and ready to go if you know what I mean.
I think it was last Wednesday night about 4:30PM and phone call are in for me and it was the telegraph office. Well dear my heart almost sank down to my shoes, I thought something had happened to you but I sighed a sigh of relief when he said my ticket had been wired from Halifax and it was waiting for me at the Union Station whenever I wished to pick it up, so you can bet your boots I went down the next day. I went down on my lunch hour and got it, and had no trouble at all. So I have it put away in my cedar chest and I have made my reservation.
I leave here Monday morning at 9:15 and arrive in Halifax at 9:45PM Tuesday evening. So dearest you can bet your life I won’t be sleeping that night (and I hope not to sleep on the first night I am with you) how about you? So dear everything is set all I have to do is wait for Monday morning of the 28th if I can control myself until then. I am getting cabin trunk from Auntie Bessie and I will pack all my thing in there and have it out in the baggage car and I won’t have the worry of carrying a lot of cases, all I will carry is the small blue suitcase you sent me for my birthday.
I was going over to see your Mom and Pop tonight but your Mother phoned me and asked if I wouldn’t mind not coming over as Aunt Mattie wanted to see her as she is pretty bad today. So I said of course not, but your Dad came over to see me for a little while and gosh he sure is tickled with Beverley and he was holding her and she was pulling on his nose and that sure tickled him He said he wish she was his but Mom said maybe he would have a grandchild soon, so who knows eh? He was going home to paint the ricking horse you used ot have a baby and they are giving it to Beverley which I think is very nice of them. He was also going to talk something over with your about coming home in case anything happened to Aunt Mattie because they don’t seem to think that she will be here at Christmas, and I know darling this seems a terrible thing to say but rather than have her suffer all the time maybe it would be better if she just slept away because I really think she is suffering something awful. But you know your Aunt Mattie she never complains. I guess I will never understand why the best people always have to suffer.
Mother and I sent her up as dozen bottles of Canada Dry because she is able to drink that OK but she is not able to eat very much as she brings everything up. I tried to get her this special kind of jelly that is very nursing but OI wouldn’t get any as it comes from England.
Mother, Aunt Jessie and Dad went up last week to see her for just a few minutes. Mom was all set to buy Aunt Agnes’ house and was all set to go and see Aunt Agnes’ lawyer but I guess you saw the headlines, that a new law has come out that no more houses to be sold for a year to the duration, but Mom wrote Ottawa and explained her position, so we will just have to wait until we have an answer.
We had more excitement around here last Thursday night. Auntie Bessie had a telegram from Uncle Stan saying that he would arrive in Toronto at 5:30 on Friday night, so you can bet that she was all thrilled also Irene and Jessie. Mom and Dad also went down to meet him, he came in at the Exhibition. I had to work that night but I called in past form work to see him. Just think it has been 3 years since we said goodbye to him. He has not changed much except he seems awful hard but I guess it was the hard like he had over there. He said I had not changed any and I hadn’t grown any and she said “and you went and got married, why I uses to remember bouncing you on my knee”. He was asking for you and boy the experiences he was talking is it just made me shudder and guess no wonder it has made him so hard.
Last night I went to the show with Jessie as Marg went to bed because she was so tired and Irene didn’t want to go. We saw “Take a little Darling” and it was very good. We worked yesterday afternoon and I have to work Monday, Wednesday and Friday plus Saturday afternoon. Boy the tales I have been hearing about Halifax darling, oh boy, especially about the sailors, so darling just hold tight to me when I get down there or I might run off with a sailor!
We had company for supper tonight we have, Aunt Jessie friend and they are all discussing Marg’s wedding and what a fuss they are having. It seems that the Simpson clan are up to no good again. They are having some very specific demands about the wedding, one would think that they are getting married and not Marg. They are concerned about the number of people Marg and Ted are inviting. It is not like they are paying for the wedding so I not sure what all the fuss is about. All I know is that Aunt Jessie is having none of it and I certainly hope there is not another blow up again for Marg’s sake. We have to go down and get our dresses tomorrow and hey are all finishes and waiting for us. We were supposed to go today but Bob came int his weekend and they were stepping out.
Well my dearest I will close now but I promise I will write you on Tuesday. So my darling love from your wee wife who love you more than anything else in the world.

Doreen

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Hello Darling:

Well here it is 9:30 Wednesday night and I have just had a shower and I’m all really to settle down and write a real long letter. I was down at the station tonight and you should have your ticket tomorrow morning.
Now dear, I’ll try and explain what you are to do. First reserve a berth for yourself it will cost you about $3.50 or so, but you can arrange that at the station, but don’t forget to reserve it quite a few days ahead because there is likely to be a big crowd on that train.
Now the train leaves Toronto at 9:15 in the morning and you get into Montreal at about 5:15 or 5:30 in the afternoon. You will have about 2 hours to spare but don’t wander around to much dear to you’ll be picked up. Well anyway you get the “Ocean” limited at 7 o’clock and you will have your berth already for you dear and you should get in here the following night about 9:40 or so but I imagine that it will be late but you can bet darling that your husband will be there waiting for you, all smiles.
That will give you a rough idea of what you are to do dear but you had better just check up on that. Oh yes and one thing more I want you to have real good meals on the train dear because I want this to be a real swell vacation for you and you can bet dear that I will certainly try my darnedest to make it so.
Do you realize dear that in less than 3 week we will be together again and will we ever make up for lost time. Have you got a trunk yet dear, there is really nothing much that you will need to send down. The married fellow I work with said that he and his wife brought all their bedding and other stuff down here but he did say that she also wrote home for some of her things however dear, as I told you in my last letter you can send some sheets and pillow cases and maybe a blanket or two down.
Well my old eyes are just about to close dear. I wrote my mother today and tried to cheer her up a bit. All the boys have gone bowling tonight and so I am alone again. By the way dear the orchestra on the radio is playing “The very thought of you” and boy is it ever sweet and darling when I do think, which is practically all the time, I feel pretty good. So I don’t know how I’m going to behave when I see you dear. So you better be ready for the worst but in the meantime get all that rest you have been telling me about because I’m ready for anything and everything by the way you had better be too.
We’ll be having our second honeymoon when Marg and Ted are having their first and I bet we will be having a lot more fun than they do, boy am I ever getting impatient.
I had to laugh yesterday, a fellow came up to me and said did I think that he would be around here long enough just to have a few more nights with his wife because she came all the way down from Toronto to be with him. He certainly looked like he had been put through the ringer, and when I say ringer I mean long, long nights. But he said he was having fun.
Well darling I’m afraid that I will have to close now but I just want to say dear that I think I’m the luckiest guy in the world to have such a sweet loveable wife as you and I love you so very, very much but actions speak louder than words and I have a lot of actions to show you.
All the love from the bottom of my heart,

Bill

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Hello Darling:

I have just finished reading your nice letter over for the third time, but I always read your letters about 2 or 3 times.
Well dear everything here is just about the same, except that I am missing you more and more everyday and can hardly wait for the 28th to come.
As soon as I finish your letter I am going to bed as I sort of feel a cold coming on, so I went up to the nurse and she gave me some cold capsules to take but darling don’t worry I have not got the cold yet and I don’t intend to get it so that is why I am going to bed. I can’t take any chances of getting a cold before I come down. There is an awful lot of the flu going around. Jessie had it over the weekend and was off work yesterday and Raymond had a temperature of 103 but I don’t think that is very serious at least we hope it isn’t.
We worked until 8:30PM last night but gee the time sure went fast. I was talking to some of the fellows I used to work in the General Office at Eaton’s and they were kidding me about married life, but they said I looked as if I was enjoying it and Oh darling if they only knew just how much I love being married to you.
Mom and Dad have gone out to buy Beverley a new bed as she is getting too big for the one she has now, so I washed her and put her to bed to let them have the night out, gee won’t I be a big help when I grow up! I was talking to your Mom tonight and she is fine dear except that she has not got used to her new teeth yet, but it will just take time, but they look very nice. She was up at Aunt Mattie’s all day today and is going back up again tonight as Aunt Mattie is very low. I hate to tell you all the time how sick she is Bill, but I want you to be pressured in case anything happens.
I was going to go up and see her but she is not able to speak to anybody and I don’t think she can be bothered with anybody other than your Mother, so dear if you get a chance please try to drop her a few lines. Oh another thing O’l dear I phoned Mrs. McCombie and told her you had received your parcel OK and thanked her as I heard she was asking if you had got it OK. So when you get this letter you just sit right down and write her a wee note thanking her because I am getting into trouble from your Mother and also from my Mother for you not writing, and so you are going to be keeping busy O’l thing writing letters so you had better tell the boys you are too busy for fooling around.
Darling that room you were telling me about in your letter sounds like heaven, and that is just what it will be as long as I am with you, so don’t worry about me liking it. Yes I think it would be nice to bring some of our own sheets and pillow cases down with me but, I won’t bring much as I won’t have much room to carry them in. Gosh I am getting all goose pimples just thinking about it. I guess you will be getting good at the sewing angle. I guess I won’t have to do any when I come down eh? I will let you do it all.
Marg is sitting here writing Ted and she told me to tell you that she wouldn’t forget to send down to you a piece of cake. She had a letter form Ted yesterday and today and feels much better now because she know for sure that he is OK after his accident on the truck.
You know darling, the funniest thing it that I am not the least bit excited for Christmas or Marg’s wedding, the only thing I can think of is how soon will it be before the 28th gets here. I think all my Aunts and cousins are coming down tot he station to see me off.
We had a letter form Ian on Saturday so I guess he did not get a chance to come and see you because he said but he time we got the letter he would probably be on his way overseas. Did I tell you that the English fellow tat was here with him got his commission? I was talking to Pete Halliday while I was coming home from work on the streetcar last night and she was asking for you. He was telling me his brother is still stationed in Ottawa but he thinks he is going to be posted to Halifax. Pete was saying that he thinks he will be getting married next year.
Well dear I guess I will close now as I have not any more paper to write on but I will write you a wee bit longer letter on Thursday.
So darling loving you and hoping to see you very, very soon.
Love from the very bottom of my heart,

Doreen

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Hello Dearest;

Well dear I’m sorry I didn’t write sooner but I wanted to wait until I got something definite to tell you about getting a place down here and have I ever been lucky but I’ll tell you from the start.
Well I’ve got three places for you to choose from but there is one in particular that you would like dear. It is just one room but it is very nice and clean and has brand new furniture in it and there is only a lady and her daughter living there. Her son was killed in the Air Force about 3 months ago and because of that she is very partial to Air Force fellows and she made it quite clear to me that she was doing it for that reason only and not as a money making proposition.
So I really think that is the best bit and she is holding it for us until you come down dear as I’ve told you before dear if it had been normal times I would have had a nice home for you dear but as long as we are together that is the main thing as far as I am concerned. Oh yes I forgot to tell you it is only 5 minutes from the depot and only about 5 minutes from the street car so all in all I think I’ve been very lucky because I know lots of fellows who have been down here for months and have not got a place nearly as nice as this. But I’ll just wait until you get down and see what you think of it, but it is a big worry on my mind anyways.
Now the next thing, your railway ticket. I’m going to pick up your Transportation Warrant and I think that I’m supposed to take it down to the station here and they’ll wire Toronto and delivery your ticket to you and dear as soon as you get it don’t forget to make you reservations for the morning of the 28th.
I really don’t know everything that you should bring down darling, but if you can get a trunk, bring a couple of pairs of pillow slips and a couple of pair of sheets and anything you really think we need but the room has really everything that we need even sheets, blankets and pillow slips. But I still think it would be nicer if we used our won and as for meals we will decide that when you come down as we will have 5 fine days all by ourselves and will we ever have a fun time. I’m just praying that you will like it darling because I would not want you to feel homesick or lonely but I’ll try my best to make you happy because you know dear that is going to be the main ambition for the rest of my life.
Well let me see now whats new, oh yes they had a swell wrestling and boxing show here on Thursday night and everybody had a swell time. The last bout was a professional wrestling boat, one navy fellow and one army fellow and boy did they ever get wild. They kept throwing each other out of the ring all night but of course the army fellow won, but it was a great show anyways.
Friday night I tried to do a little sewing and generally spent a quite evening at home listening to the radio. Last night I went to the show and saw “Wake Island” it was a grand picture, maybe because there was no woman in it (HA HA) but you know we cannot do without you little darling.
Tonight as usual we are having a show and so that is that I’ll be doing tonight for entertainment but I guess we will listen to the “Inner Sanctum” too. I received a very nice letter from my Pop and I am going to answer him tomorrow. I’m awful sorry that my aunt is no better and I hope that I get a chance to write her tomorrow as well. So you ran into Dot the other day eh? So I am glad that you and her had a chance to talk and I certainly can see where she would fit in working for the department manager, using her ways to get ahead. I think the Toronto gals are smarter on that front than the wild woman of Halifax.
Well Marg’s special date is getting closer, tell her not to forget to send a nice big hunk of cake down here and I certainly hope that she will be happy, even half as happy as we are dear even though we have been separated, but I am glad that we have been apart darling because it has made me realize just how much I love you and how much I need you but I’ve said this all before.
Oh yes before I close I just want to remind you to bring down some extra money and also our pass book because we don’t want to run short of money but I don’t think we will.
Well dearest I really must finish now as I have to do a little work this afternoon and I want this letter to get away before the mail closes.
So you are going to give me a lot when you come down OK? I’ll remind you of that dear because I’ve certainly got an awful lot for you too darling and just think only 3 weeks tomorrow you will be leaving.
Loving you with all my heart, your very loving husband,

Bill

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