Cursive letter, 'Sunday' — Mary's continuation to Minnie: Va. trip, Mother & Daddy, Orlando invitation, signed 'Mary'
Book 1, Page 375 ·1962–1963
Transcription
A single sheet of cream paper written in blue cursive, continuing from page 374 and closing the letter.
[continued from page 374] them near. I can hear [Lity?] saying, “Don’t worry about Sam — he knows what he’s doing.”
I miss news of you all there. Amy. Had a letter from her last week & she sounds in grand spirits.
We leave next Sat. for Va. for a week. Always hate to leave Grace alone. I dread going this year — know there’s such a drastic change in Mother & Daddy, & doubt is Mother will know I’m there.
Am anxious to know about your house. I’m giving it a try — hoping this once. [Burns?] is helping me & if it gets to be too much will give it up.
Have you been to Orlando? Any time that you do, please stop & spend a night with us. There is plenty of room & how good it would be to have you all.
My love,
Mary
AI Notes
Second sheet (concluding) of the cover letter begun on page 374, in Mary Haddow FitzSimons’s blue-ink cursive to her sister-in-law Mary Annie FitzSimons Allston (“Minnie”). Mary picks up mid-sentence from page 374 (“…have them near”), voices a remembered or attributed remark — “Don’t worry about Sam — he knows what he’s doing” — reports having had a letter from Amy (the compiler, Amy FitzSimons Walker), notes that she leaves next Sat. for a week in Va. and dreads it because of the “drastic change in Mother & Daddy” (Mary’s parents in Petersburg, Va., per the p366 key block — Mary was born/married in Petersburg Jan 24, 1931); regrets to leave Grace alone (her unmarried daughter Grace FitzSimons, b. 24 Dec 1938, see p366); is anxious to know about Minnie’s house and reports that Burns is helping her with hers; closes with an Orlando invitation and signature “Mary.” The writer is Mary Haddow FitzSimons; the recipient is the younger Minnie — Mary Annie FitzSimons Allston (Sam Jr. and Amy’s sister, m. Donald Alston of Johns Island, S.C.). The “Mother & Daddy” of the Va. trip are Mary’s own parents (the Haddow household at Petersburg), not the recipient’s — the Va. trip is a recurring fixture in Mary’s letters (cf. p369-370 to Amy: “we leave Sat. week for Petersburg”). “Grace” is Mary’s unmarried daughter Grace FitzSimons (named in Sam Jr.'s 1961 obituary at p367). The attributed-remark name [Lity?] is preserved with an uncertainty marker (most likely “Lily” — possibly a household helper or family friend — but the cursive reads “Lity” literally); Burns is a best-guess uncertain reading for a personal name or surname (possibly Mrs. Burns the housekeeper or hired help). The body is presented as one continuous flow with the page-374 sentence completed across the page break.