This is 136 W. 18th Street in Holland, Michigan.   I imagine my grandmother writing  the below letter from the first floor of this bungalow where she and her children spent the war years.  She rented the 1st floor.  The owner Jeanette (a retired school teacher) lived on the second floor.

Note:  This posting is Number 4 in a 5-letter series, taken from the war correspondence between my grandmother (Connie Maris) in Holland, Michigan, to her husband, Chaplain Marvin Maris, in the Philippines.

Wednesday Morning, 8:15 a.m.    May 9, 1945

Dearest M.M.,

The kids are slowly getting ready for school.  Rolf is still at the breakfast table and Priscilla combing her hair. She’s going from one extreme to the other and combs her hair at any moment.

Rolf hasn’t gone to that stage yet. In fact, he would just as soon be dirty.

This is a nice sunny day.

Had to leave this and go supervise Rolf’s cleaning! While gone, Priscilla read this.  She’s getting nosy so I can’t leave anything around any more. She didn’t used to be interested but now she’s too interested!

I’m undecided as to what I should do today exactly.  It is trying to try to get the kids off without getting cross.  Only 26 more days of school in this school year.  It hardly seems that we have spent a whole year here in Holland.

The news is on but I don’t think it’s anything new.  The Germans are still trying to fight by bombing Prague.  It won’t get them anywhere as the Russians won’t forget.

People seem to think that Japan is going to quit now instead of us having to batter her to pieces before she gives up.

The commentator speaking now interpreted Truman’s talk yesterday as saying that Japan will be willing to come to terms before rumor says that Japan has offered a conditional surrender if we promise not to occupy Japan itself. If we let her go, however, won’t she try all this again?

Perhaps all this is true but if we accept this, what can we expect? However, if we don’t, Japan will not lose faith.  Is Japan afraid of Russia?  All the commentators’ ideas are not mine!

The mailman will be coming and I want him to take this letter along so I’ll close now.  This being only an apology letter for my grammar. I’m getting worser and worser, too bad!

All my love, Connie