Letter to Paul B, April 20, 1919

[Received May 3, 1919]

Danville Illinois

April-20-1919-

My Dear Friend:-

I received your letter of March -, I guess you forgot to put the day of the month. Anyway it was written soon after you came back from Southern France. You certainly had a wonderful time and saw some beautiful scenery never to be forgotten. I think Uncle Sam did treat you real nice for once, but it is certainly not as much as you deserve. You did a very good job at describing what you saw too. I only wish I had the ability to do that like you can.

This is Sunday evening. I just got home a few minutes ago. Have been over in St. Joe. all day. Grandma's are going to move to Homer and this is their last Sunday in St. Joe. So we had a little party on them. Charles Hendrix took his big car over and we went and quite a few more of our relatives. Some I hadn't seen for years and didn't even know. Of course my cousin Henry was there, and he and I are the best of pals, so I was with him a great part of the day. He has a Ford and altho' we rode around quite a bit in Charley's car, Henry & I slipped off a time or two and took a spin in the Ford. I rode around most of the day, so I had a pretty good time. The rest of the folks came home about four-thirty, but I wasn't ready so I came later by myself. We wanted to take pictures but the sun absolutely refused to shine more than five minutes at a time so we only got to take two. It wasn't a very pretty Easter Sunday as it was cold, windy & cloudy. I have to write a letter to a girl friend in Louisiana and study my shorthand yet this evening. So I guess I will keep busy.

I suppose you are almost ready to leave for embarkation port now, as I see in today's paper that the 33rd is to take final review the 22nd of April. There are writeups in the papers quite often about the 33rd division. Praising what they did during the war, and telling how soon they will leave for home. Well they can't leave too soon to suit you I know, and as for me I would like to see my old pal again mighty well.

You will have to excuse this writing. My pen doesn't write very well of late and I am writing fast besides.

I suppose you received my picture some time ago if it didn't get lost on the way.

There was a bunch of nurses arrived in Danville tonight. Had a band playing and everyone was going to the depot.

You have probably seen the style of coats the girls are wearing this year. They are not really coats but capes. I did not want one, but I could not find a good-looking coat, so I bought me a cape. Looks realy classy. Mother doesn't like it but your mother said it looked very nice on me.

We have our new bedroom papered now and all fixed up except varnishing the floor around the rug. That will be done later. It looks very nice and is very handy. We have a new library table too. I bought it. So our house begins to look pretty decent.

We only have eight more evenings of school now. We wont get quite thru our shorthand book, but we will get time to make our third test, and then there is only one more in this book and it a short one. Then we will be ready for speed. I haven't been studying much of late. I'm afraid I won't make my test. But my work at the store has been so heavy that I have had to work a night or two every week. But I am pretty well caught up now, as I had a little girl from downstairs last week to help me. There was lots of filing and running errands for me that she could do. And she liked it and was very willing to learn. She said she had had a very enjoyable week as I was a kind master.

Well I must close for this time. I expect I will get a letter from you tomorrow. I almost always get one on Monday. I should think that by the time this letter crosses the Atlantic you will be starting this way.

Hoping to see you very soon I am as ever your loving Cecil