Letter from Ellen to Amy FitzSimons (Mrs. James Pickens Walker), February 23, 1962 — page 2 (retirement, springtime, family news)
Book 1, Page 599 ·1962
Transcription
[Page two of a three-page letter, continuing from page 598 (dated February 23, 1962). The writer is in mid-flow about her recent retirement.]
…only yesterday did I begin to realize that I really have retired — and don’t have to keep a weekly, monthly, daily and hourly schedule — and keep other people at it also — when it fully strikes me I’m afraid I’ll become so light headed that I’ll rise right up and land on the moon ahead of the Russians! It is so wonderful to think of being able to spend this spring in our mountains — I’ll be there around March 30 or 31 — please you come soon so we can enjoy it together —
I had such a beautiful letter from Minnie and a telephone call from Marguerite. Louisa sent me Aunt Ellen’s tray that the library had given her on her retirement. I took it and also the silver dipper to my
AI Notes
Second leaf of a three-page handwritten letter in blue ink from ‘Ellen’ to Mrs. James Pickens Walker, continuing from the dated page 598 (February 23, 1962) and onto pages 600 and 601. Matching hand, ink, stationery and the Feb 1962 retirement narrative all confirm this as page 2 of the letter that begins on p598. The writer realises ‘only yesterday’ that she has truly retired and looks forward to spending the spring in ‘our mountains’ beginning around March 30 or 31. She mentions a beautiful letter from Minnie (an unknown later ‘Minnie’ — the compiler’s mother Mary Annie Perry FitzSimons had died in 1934, so this Minnie is a younger family member sharing the name) and a telephone call from Marguerite. Louisa has sent her Aunt Ellen’s retirement tray and silver dipper from the library — these are heirlooms of Aunt Ellen Milliken FitzSimons (1862–1953), passed on after her death. The ‘Russians/moon ahead’ phrase fits Cold-War / Sputnik-era anxiety (post-1957) and the Jan 31 1962 retirement date pins this letter precisely. The signer ‘Ellen’ is not Aunt Ellen Milliken FitzSimons (d. 1953); she is the ‘Young Ellen’ niece or cousin who inherited library-retirement keepsakes from the elder Ellen — most plausibly Ellen Modisette, given the post-1957 dating, the library-career profile, and the writer’s evident closeness with Louisa, Marguerite and the Charleston Walker household. Ellen Barker (d. 28 Nov 1957) cannot have written a Feb 1962 letter, ruling out the other candidate.
Continues on page 600.