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Transcription of Letter
From
J R Derbyshire
62 Friars Avenue
Delapre
Northampton
England
To
John Derbyshire
126 Stevens Avenue
Valhalla
New York 10595
U.S.A.
62 Friars Avenue 11-5-78
Dear Son,
Thank you for your letter. You say Spring is a long time arriving. Well over here the winter is a
long time leaving. I have never known anything like it. Cold East winds, rain, snow & frost, flooding everywhere.
I am fed up. We have not had
any warm dry weather for nearly 3 yrs, & with weather like this, I can't get warm & cant do any thing & if
we dont have some seasonable
weather soon I will go off my nut.
The thought of you coming home has raised our spirits a we have nearly forgot what you look like
& it will be nice to see you again, & also for you to see your lovely
niece &
nephew they are both lovely, & in 10 weeks time Tessa is off to stay
with her Dad in Hawaii &
if it was'nt for the thought that we would'nt see her for a long time, I wish he would keep her. She has a lovely
desposition but not very happy at
home & comes & stays with us every week end sleeps in
your
room. When we told her you were coming, she said "Well were will he sleep" we told her in your
room, she said "he cant sleep
in my room, so now every W.E she brings something from her room at home & leaves it here & we keep teasing
her. & as for your
nephew, he has just started to walk so when he comes we have to hang the things on Sky Hooks.
If you do decide to stay here I have no doubt you will
have plenty of jobs. But if you react as I did you will be fed up quite soon, as after the way other countries run
thier affairs you will see how
crude & out of touch our government is with home & world events & surprised how living here has
changed. & when things bust, as
they must, it will be Civil War at least. I has several people wanted to adopt Noel in N.Z. but Aunt Cissie &
my Mother begged me to
bring him with me, otherwise I think I would have gone back, after seeing my folks it took me a long time to
settle down & tolerate the
change but there was nothing I could do. That is why I always told you not to shit on your own doorstep Kathie is
a woman who wants a man
She may be a nice girl but she got herself in a nice mess & if you are not very careful she will get you into one
as well. Its quite easy for her
to get pregnant, what would you do then, & what will Jay & Mary
say when you dump her You
are like me always get on well with children & I like them but not all the time. If you get either of the jobs how
will you stand with your
application for Permit to stay will the Firm still pay costs 'Legal' anyway you have been there a long time
& given them good service
& I think you have learnt something as well & if you are dissatisfied I dont think, with your experence &
ability you would soon get on,
but when you get older it will be more difficult, but as long as Mum & me are alive your home will be here waiting
for you what is ours is
yours but whatever you do get out of your present set up. If you take up writing there is a good living writing
articles for daily newspapers on
Topical thing & events. I often wish I could type I would have a go myself I am more of the
orator I have not the nack of
expressing myself on paper.
We are due for a fine day tomorrow by the forecast. Mum is going to spend a week with Mary Allen Thursday 11 May so I shall all on my own for a week. I dont mind
being alone, as you say
"We Derbyshire's are a funny crowd" It wouldnt do for us all to be the same. I manage to get my walk in
every day, but my legs &
feet need an overhaul as all the joints are knocking now. Its not nice getting old, it like having had a trouble car
for years that at last starts to
disinterate one part after another but apart from legs & feet I can't grumble. I agree with you, there is a law of
nature to let you do foolish
things unknowingly but not if it hurts any one I never had any one to advize me when I was young & being big
for my age no-one tried to
tell me so I grew up thinking brute force was law but of course in my travels I met lots of people who proved I was
wrong to think that was so &
so you could say I was a late starter on the rules of life & had to learn a lot form experence, that I should have
learned or known before. Then
one tends to get a chip on the shoulder by looking back, & its a strange thing I find in old age & having
recollections for about 75 yrs,
that it is only the things you should'nt have done that you remember. I think about afterlife because I can't see any
justice in the present set up,
as for instance some people are born with a handicap & have it all thier life whilst others are born & never
suffer anything all thier
life there must be another chance surely But its something one can argue for ever & when I look at the
world today & think of all
the advantages there are now which we never had & yet its getting worse to live in & we are moveing back to the
dark ages
Mum received your letter yesterday & I think she expects you to walk in any day now & is
excitingly looking forward to it & I doubt if she will let you go once she gets you here. thats the trouble with
parents they never grow
up with thier children but always look on them youngsters all thier life.
Well I think I've said enough so in the circumstances that you now face Dont let your heart
rule your head.
All the best & hope
to see you soon
love
Dad