Last month, I did a post about 92 WWII love letters I bought at a farm auction. I have been beyond thrilled to read through the words of Irwin & Helen...I read each letter he wrote her, then her response...it is like being in their converstation.
I love how he starts this letter...
Just like everyone before and after it...
"Dearest darling Helen"
and then he calls her his "little ray of sunshine"...isn't that just the cutest thing ever??
This letter goes on to talk about his daily life while he is away. What he does for his job on the ship, what the other guys are doing. He is careful to not reveal too much, the sensors would never send it on to her if he did. Can you imagine? Every single personal word your husband wrote you while you were apart being read by someone else? Yikes.
Parts of the letters have me laughing outloud. Apparently she is a not-so-great cook, and he made a comment about not being ready for home cooked food any time soon. Umm....Hello, Irwin - I wish I would have been there to help you out. Someone needed to imform you that women are not amused by jokes like that. Needless to say, Helen did not find it to be funny at all, and he apologized for about 13 letters afterwards.
And I have discovered Irwin has a little naughty side to him, too! He throws in a comment or two that I am sure they would not appreciate me reading. I guess years away on a ship will do that to a guy...wink...wink.
But most of all, he begs to hear about the mundane, day-to-day things she is doing. He wants to hear details. What she did...who she saw...what they talked about. I admit, at first I thought Irwin may be just a little controlling.....but then he says why. When he lays down in his bunk at night, he falls asleep imagining he is there. Remembering what life was like before he was...somewhere in the South Pacific...all those miles away from her.
He talks about how much he is missing the little things. Going bowling, mowing the lawn, fixing their car, even painting the house. The simple things in life really are the most important, aren't they?
I love how he signed this letter...
"sending all of my love and kisses now and forever, your loving, loyal but ever so lonely husband Irwin"
I have been trying to figure out what to get my husband for Valentine's Day. Cologne? Dinner and a movie? A new watch? But really, when it comes down to it...we like the every day things in life just like Irwin. I think I will just cook him his favorite dinner...and he can build a fire. We will pop open a bottle of cheap champagne, drink it out of the wrong kind of glass and enjoy a night in.
Happy Valentine's Day, my friends.
Wishing you a Helen & Irwin kind of day...enjoy the simple things in life.
