Letter from Mother (Mary Anne Perry FitzSimons) to 'Dear little Aimie' — page 2 of 3, May 1926

Middle leaf of the May 1926 ‘Dear little Aimie’ letter from Mary Anne Perry FitzSimons (the elder Minnie, d. Jan 1934) to her daughter Amy; continues from p104 and concludes on p106 (signed ‘Mother’, dated ‘Friday’); mailing envelope on p107, postmarked Yonges Island, S.C., May 27, 1926, addressed to Mrs. J. P. Walker in Jacksonville. Brown fountain-pen ink in a small slanted hand on cream stationery. ‘Your boy’ = James Pickens Walker Jr. (age 14 in 1926). The phrase ‘going into close confinement / with her chosen lord’ shows the writer’s anxiety about a younger family woman’s marriage and household responsibilities. The elliptical second paragraph reads as the writer admiring Amy’s son’s resemblance to both parents — ‘very like you, and back / Jim’s. His face is like yours’ — comparing back/posture to the father Jim (James Pickens Walker Sr.) and face to the mother (Amy). The abbreviated phrasing ‘and back / Jim’s’ is the writer’s own ellipsis.

The previous leaf (p104) opens ‘Dear little Aimie’ and notes that ‘Your boy has been such a pleasure to us all’. The next leaf (p106) concludes with ‘I long to see you — Devotedly, Mother. Friday.’ The unidentified bride whose marriage worries the writer is most likely the writer’s daughter or niece preparing to set up house. ‘Jim’s’ refers to the boy’s father James Pickens Walker Sr.; the writer’s comment reads as: the boy’s posture/back resembles his father’s, his face resembles his mother Amy’s.