Grandpa is writing Great-Grandma Shannon for Grandma's hand in marriage! Grandma wants to get married in Montana, but Grandpa loves his pastor in St. Louis. They both want to wait to get married after the war, but I don't remember is they wait that long!
On July 10, 1944
"He and I are going to be married some day, after the war preferably. He wants his folks and you to be there when we are married. He wanted Peggy to look him over and go home and tell you about him and then he is going to write you and ask you if it is all right with you to marry me. So when he writes let it be a big surprise to you. He is very fond of his pastor in St. Louis and has always wanted him to marry him when he was married, but I told him that you aren't well and could never come to St. Louis and that I wanted to be married at home, so we hope that his folks will be able to come out to Missoula then. I think they would, because he is the only boy in the family(He has 2 sisters), and they think the sun rises and sets in him."
My Grandfather's sisters always said that Grandpa was their favorite. Well, at least I like to think that Great Aunt Thelma and Charlotte loved him the best. I never really knew him, but they made sure I heard plenty of stories about him.
"Well, I guess that is enough of that. I want you to be surprised when he writes to you. He wanted to let you know before I did. Although, he knows that I have written you a lot about us and you know we like each other a lot. I hope that everything will turn out OK. His real name is Walter William Robinson, but he is called Bud."
Both of my Grandfathers went by Bud. I did a little digging and found out that Bud is often used when a son is a Jr. My Dad's Dad was Delbert Ogden Wyse Jr and that's where (I think) Grandpa Wyse started going by Bud. On the other hand, if you had an odd or a sometimes hard to yell across the ship yard name in the service, they might give you a nickname. Anyone willing to enlighten me on why there are SO many buds in WWII? Links to research would be helpful. Also in the interest of names and nicknames, If I was a boy my name would be William Walter Wyse. My initials would have been WWW. That would have been just in time for the advent of the at-home internet. Thank God I am a girl.
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| One of my favorite photos of the them |
On July 10, 1944
Very sweet! I had and Uncle Buddy:-) I think war pals referred to each other as buddies, of course, but it was also a sign of affection. It seems to be enjoying a revival and I'm hearing lots of parents call their young sons "Buddy" as well as adult strangers greeting kids with "Hey Bud!", etc. I enjoy your posts.
ReplyDeleteYa, I've noticed my Dad calls my nephew bud, but mainly I think it had to do mainly with the service. Thank you for all of your comments and feedback!
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