My Grandmother's letter reflects the gloomy weather that they had in Miami in October of 1943.
"It has been raining a lot so it kind of bawls everything up for you. When it rains down here it really rains. It doesn't last long but it will rain a number of times during the day, and boy, does it ever come down."
My Great-Grandfather is not doing well and my Grandmother warns my Great-Grandmother to not overdo it. (There were a great deal of grands in that sentence) In the same paragraph though, she complains about receiving only one letter from them a week.
"It is kind of hard to get used to only one letter a week but I guess that I will just have to get used to it. How is Daddy now? Is he still following the doctor's orders? You must take care of yourself, Mother, and not get sick or overdo."
Grandma wants to come home for Christmas but it looks like other girls have already been denied leave. So, in an effort to alleviate her disappointment, she suggests to them what she would like for Christmas. The gifts she suggests gave me that jolt of war time.
"You know, for Xmas I would like an identification bracelet or some kind of luggage. Just a suggestion not a hint."
The request for an identification bracelet as a gift caused my heart to race and my hands to clench. If there is an accident, and somehow her body is found, then the authorities will be able to identify her. It is a practical gift, but one that thankfully my Grandmother never had any use for. I wonder if the ID bracelet was a fashion statement in the 40s or if it was a solemn reminder of the War.
Tourist season started in Miami and my Grandmother is resigned to it.
"The tourists are beginning to pour in down here now. You would think with a war on they would stay home. This town is plenty crowded but now it will be overflowing. Oh, well, I like things to be moving right along and they will be."
America was unique that most of WWII, if not all, was not fought on our shores. Let us not forget the devastating and atrocious attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941, and what our Navy did for us in our oceans. However our mainland was not a victim of the Blitz, nor did the Desert Fox ever come to our shores. Our citizens were still able to go on vacation for cripes sake! Many are thankful for that. America and its people were able to provide a land where refugees could escape the devastation of their home countries during and after the war. They managed to create new lives in a country where the horrors of their old lives could not haunt them.
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