Wilda Simpson - June 23, 1962

Plainville, Kansas

June 23, 1962

Dear Mable & Archie,

Got your letter & the sweet sympathy card yesterday. I’ve been wanting to get a letter written to you sooner than this but seemed I just couldn’t. You see I had so much to do in such a short time. This happened 2 days before school was out so I had a lot of school work to do after school was out. Mr. Mahoney told me to take all the time I needed but I knew Summer School would soon start & I’d be terribly busy then so I worked as hard as I could. Ted & Edith stayed a day after the funeral to help me with mom’s apartment. Ray & I came back another day & finished up. Then I had to sort stuff, cards, keepsakes, etc. & put in boxes for us 4 kids. I had gobs of letters to write to mom’s close relatives (brothers, sisters) & lots of letters to write to Bonnie, Lyle & Ted about the affairs, etc. I also had a lot of things at home to do getting ready for college. Than it started – so now I just squeeze in a letter when I can. It was so nice of you folks to send flowers. Thanks so uch & also for the card.

Hope you folks are feeling fine. I’m feeling some better though I still feel awfully blue & lonesome sometimes. Ray & Bob are OK. Ray has been fishing some & had pretty good luck but they aren’t very big. Jim & family will be here from July 1-5^th. He is to go to Keesler in Mississippi for some more schooling. Bill’s & Dave are fine.

Rosa was here for a couple of weeks visit. She left Monday. She surely looks good. Aunt Mattie looks pretty good but Uncle Mel has high blood pressure, his eyes & ears are giving out on him. Aunt Laura is about the same as she was, I guess.

Uncle Art had another sick spell – I guess it is pleurisy. I certainly hope it isn’t his heart.

You would probably like to know some of the details of mom’s death. You know I told you I was over to see her about 4 times a week & sometimes oftener. I see her every Saturday & she would always go to the Beauty Shop with me, do her trading or whatever she needed. So I saw her May 12, we had her over to our place Mother’s Day, May 13, & then I came over May 14 because that was their 50^th Wedding Anniversary & I couldn’t let her spend all that day alone. I took her to Plainvill & took her to café for supper (She loves to do that & we took her quite often). Then we did some shopping & she bought some wreaths for Pop’s, Newts, & her little brother’s graves. (She was so proud of these wreaths & I was going to take her to the graves Memorial Day). Then we went to the Laundramet & did her washing. I didn’t get down to see her Tuesday or Wednesday but Ray & I came down Thursday evening & visited a while. We took her out to Pop’s grave to see how the grass was coming. She said, “I’ll be glad when I’m right here beside him.” The next morning she wrote letters to Ted & Aunt Mary, cooked her dinner & left it on the stove to keep warm & went down to the post office & fell at the door & was gone instantly. God was certainly merciful to her & to us, too, by not letting her linger along & suffer. But oh, how we miss them both Young Henry Pohlman gave her mouth & mouth respiration till the resuscitator got there but she was gone. Uncle Art came after me immediately & I was called out of my school room as I was before & I was down there in a few minutes. We called the other kids, Ted & Edith came that evening. Bonnie & Del were up in the mountains 200 miles from Denver & the Police told them to go home immediately but didn’t tell them why. Bonnie came on the train Saturday evening. Del & Lyle drove down Sunday morning (& Fern, too). Dan & Bills were here but Jims couldn’t come. We had the funeral Monday afternoon & it was a beautiful service & the flowers were beautiful, too. Leonard James led us into the church reciting “The Lord is my Shephard.” The obituary tells what songs were sung & who the casket bearers were. Aunt Bessie & Aunt Mary aren’t very well & we surely worried about them.

You can probably imagine how Bonnie & Del felt hurrying down the mountain & not knowing what was wrong. Del’s folks aren’t very well, either. Fred Pohlman told them very plainly to tell the Police or Highway Patrol to find them & tell them it was Bonnie Harch’s mother.

Sunday Morning –

Isn’t it about time for Shirley & family to come back to the U.S.  I hope they are here already for I know it is hard on you & Archie for them to be so far away.

I wrote the first part of this letter on my lap at the Beauty Shop. Hope you can read it OK.

We might possibly be out there in August if you are still planning on being home. We don’t know for sure yet what we will do. But of course we’ll get in touch with you if we do decide to come. But if you have something else planned for then don’t hesitate to tell us. It would be nice to have some more good visits.

Bonnie called me yesterday morning.  We just get lonesome to hear each other’s voice so we call.

Harvest is going on here now but it is kinda wet. It rains a little nearly every day or night.

I am sending you some pictures mom had. She had boxes & boxes of pictures. I thought maybe you or some of the other kids might want them. Usually our parents give away our childhood pictures to their brothers & sisters & then when we are grown up we don’t have them & would probably like to have some.

I must stop for this time. Sorry I didn’t write sooner. But you know you are one of my favorite counsins. Gold bless you all. Write.

Love, Wilda & family

In case you just ordered flowers & didn’t specify what kind – they were candy stripe carnations – very pretty.