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Transcription of Letter
From
J R Derbyshire
62 Friars Avenue
Delapre
Northampton
England
To
MR John Derbyshire
John Derbyshire
57 North Perkins Ave:
Elmsford
New York 10532
U.S.A
62 Friars Avenue 11-7-75
Dear John,
I got your card, as you will see by above date, in good time for my birthday & I think its a
lovely card & if what it says is true i.e. For a Great Father with
admiration & respect & love. I am sure no Father in the world could be paid a greater
compliment. I know I have
not been the Ideal Dad but I did my best & I hope you will have as much luck & good fortune as I have & am
still having. I dont expect it
will be much different than any other just another milestone & as time goes on the distance between them seems
shorter each year. I find now I
have not the energy, now every year I find jobs I could do the year before are to much for me. Still I have had a good
innings & as long as I can
get about & keep mentally alert I dont mind. but I dont want to be a burden to anyone I would much rather pass on.
apart from my family I dont
think there is anything I shall miss.
enough of that. You seem to be doing well & I hope you will continue, always remember as long as you have
no responsibilities you can laugh at the world but you must have good health & if ancestry is anythink to go by you
should be full of whatever it
takes to enjoy health as my & your Mum's Parents never had anything to worry about perhaps we have been
lucky, so it would be as well to
take precautions. its not so bad in this country but U S A can be a very expensive place to be ill in so they
tell me. & remember what
I always tell you, a good Bank Balance is the best friend you will ever have so dont take any chances the world
is a fast changing its ways.
when I look back I realise I have come from a stable, if backward world, to an unknown one. it is quite evident the
world alter greatly otherwise it
will strangle itself. in my life time shorter hours & greater demand has kept the world turning but that method has
a limit because if it is
applied in the future we will run out of hours & the demand will be greater if there is a bad season for any branch
of food supply now there is
starvation. in my day we kept a reserve & grew a lot of our own so you can see as from now its not jobs you will
want to survive in the future but
food. so I hope, in our stupidity, we have'nt killed the Goose that laid the Golden Egg still time will tell
You have a heat wave so have we for the last 5 weeks & it is still with us. I understand the
U S A had recovery on the way from depression & was expecting things being back to normal in 2 yrs. nice
to hear you are playing
games have you dropped your tennis that is a game to keep you fit. I watch them on TV & wonder where I
got my energy from. looking
back it never made me tired, only for 2 hours after that we were ready for off again. I have only seen soft ball on TV
it looks a fast game to me in
short bursts. I could never see anything in bowling (we call it Skittles) I know they have altered the rules a
bit I used to like playing
bowls on a crown green but down south they play in teams inside a lane & I never enjoyed it With crown you
can play anywhere & the woods
have a Bias to counter the pull of the crown so you often have to send a wood after the Jack in an Arch & go past
the jack & the Bias would
pull the wood round the back. You should see Tessa in the swimming pool
jumps in & off she goes
swims like a fish.
I am having trouble with my walking I can just manage town but going up Bridge
St I have to rest also its an effort now when it used to be a pleasure. You wouldnt know Town Centre now were
Wood St used to be is now a Double decker arcade & they are building
a Bus
Station at the back upper Mounts they have spoiled the look of the old
town. Do try to drop us a line
round about every 2 weeks as we are apt to worry if it goes any longer. Mum has been down to
Worthing for 10 days to Miss Armet an old spinster & she is off
down there to another friend for
a few days whilst Judith is away. as you know Judith & Tessa are meeting Allan at Los Angeles for a month leaving
next week, so I shall have no
one to fall out with. Your Aunt Polly is coming to stay with
Cissie next W/E so we shall have plenty to talk over old times.
Well there isnt much more I
can think to tell you I have no doubt Mum keeps you informed. So Cheerio for now & look after yourself & dont
forget word from you every
fortnight at most & all the best for future
Dad