Christmas letter from Clara FitzSimons to Amy — conclusion, signed 'Clara'
Book 1, Page 347 ·1950–1970
Transcription
A single sheet of personal stationery, blue ballpoint cursive. The same letterhead repeats at top centre:
MRS. THEODORE B. FitzSIMONS 184 TACOMA CIRCLE ASHEVILLE, NORTH CAROLINA
Body (the opening ‘tion’ completes ‘depriva-’ from the previous page):
-tion, for I’ve always loved it even though my gifts were trivia.
Mother is getting very feeble — She stood the trip well and enjoyed it, but is so happy to be home again with her own routine. She has little desire to go out at all.
I think of you and Pucci so often — hoping that the eye is progressing and that all goes well.
Wishing you a most happy year.
My love to Pucci, and ever so much to you always.
Clara.
AI Notes
Closing sheet of Clara FitzSimons’s Christmas letter to Amy, continued from pages 345–346. The same printed letterhead in blue at top centre: ‘MRS. THEODORE B. FitzSIMONS / 184 TACOMA CIRCLE / ASHEVILLE, NORTH CAROLINA.’ Blue ballpoint cursive on cream paper. The opening ‘tion’ completes the word ‘depriva-’ broken at the foot of page 346. The ‘eye’ Clara is hoping is progressing is that of Amy’s son James Pickens Walker Jr. (‘Pucci’). Clara’s reference to her mother becoming ‘very feeble’ helps narrow the date to the late 1950s / early 1960s. Signed ‘Clara.’ Two underlined emphases are preserved as italic: ‘gifts’ (in ‘my gifts were trivia’) and ‘always’ (in the closing ‘ever so much to you always’).
italicised ‘gifts’ and ‘always’ to reflect the writer’s underlines. ‘Pucci’ is Amy’s son James Pickens Walker Jr. ‘Mother’ is Clara’s own mother (a Mrs. Mather); her advanced infirmity helps date the letter to the late 1950s or early 1960s.