—————————
Transcription of Letter
From
Mrs J.R. Derbyshire
62, Friars Avenue
Delapre
Northampton
England
To
John Derbyshire
126, Stevens Avenue
Valhalla
New York 10595
U.S.A.
May 7th
My dear son,
I thought I would try my hand at my typwriter again, it is ages since I used it though to tell
you the truth Judy has had it for some time. Darling you don't know how sad we are waiting to get a letter from you, it
is so long since we last
heard from you, in fact not since my birthday in March. Hopes rise every morning only to fade as the postman goes by.
We just want to know if
you are OK. Are you any nearer knowing when you are coming? We are still getting a lot of rain and very cold winds, but
I would love you to see
the garden now it is a picture. People passing by stop to have a look and say how lovely it is. I thought the drought
last year had killed most
of it off, but to my surprise very little died. Phillip is going to paint the kithen for me, he has got the materials,
I hope it is done before
you come, I have had some new Cushionfloor put down on the kitchen floor, it looks super. I can't believe it is a year
almost darling since I was so
excited getting ready to come, the memory of our lovely time together sustains me through many dreary days. I expect
you are aware that we have
Jimmy Carter in England at the moment, he seems to be getting a good reception, he seems a likable chap. I must tell
you dear that I have had an
invitation to the Mayors reception here on May 26th, Mark Aldridge is
Mayor this year, Funny HA'HA'.
However I shall go if it's only to see the shinnanikins! We are having a curry tonight for our meal, it smells good,
wish you were here to share it.
Please do let us know how you are faring love, are you looking after yourself? Dad and I are fine and little
Marcus is lovely I had them both last weekend but of course
Tessa comes first, she seems to love the baby but gets a bit folorn if
Dad or I have him too long. She
tells me she has written to you I do hope you will send her a card back John she really loves you, I feel so for her
when she talks about her Daddy,
she feels hurt so easily and of course they are besotted with the baby, I think she's bound to feel jealous.
This is the next day dear, still no news. Tess rang me last night to say she was coming today to stay
the night, she comes most weekends, I told her I had cut you off with a shilling, and she was quite indignant. I am
just going to have a walk up to
Hardingstone to
Jean's, we have a cup
of coffee together and a couple of glasses of sherry and I stagger back full of good will towards everyone. It's not
very nice, quite cold and stormy
looking but I get fed up with staying in the house. Judy is com[ing] this afternoon and will bring the baby. Dad quite
drools over him, he has a way
with small children.
There has been quite a scandal at your
old school John, which is now comprehensive, the headmaster has been steeling the funds and had buried money in the
gardens or something odd.
There has been a great outcry about how the standard has fallen since the changeover. We hear that Mike (your cousin) is changing his job again, Auntie has fallen out
with them over their
extravagant ways apparently they owe a few thousand and owe Cis about £300. Mike's had 13 cars
in about 9 yrs. I think she's silly to interfere and should let them work out their own problems. He had such promise
at one time, but he told me he
was only good at music and had no other qualifications worth anything. It's a pity really as he hates teaching. Well
my darling I hope this isn't a
load of old drivel, we continue to moan about the Government and the cost of living etc: the weather which is
diabolical, the miseries of getting
old, and anything else we can thing of, I know I've made a lot of mistakes love but it will give you a laugh. Give my
love to
Mary and dear Jay, time is
slipping by for them it will
soon be August, I will write to them before then. Did you do that little job for me dear, your money is here when you
come. Also love to
Louise if you are still together, not forgetting
Tom and
Ginny. Please write soon darling, think of your poor old Mum and Dad watching and waiting, you could put that to
music. All is well here, we
just want to know that all is well with our dearly loved son. Old folks spend a lot of time looking back, do give us
something to look forward to
dear. Take good care of yourself my love come soon. Love you as always
Mother
X X X