January 19, 1969
Sunday, January 19, 2969
7:30 P.M.
Dear Larry:
Well, here it is, Sunday evening and we just got through with supper. We had steak which dad just bought at Matthews. Dad said, “Boy, if Larry was here, he sure would like to have one of those steaks.” I fixed the steaks so Dad made me sit down and Tresa and Carol are doing the dishes, so I thought I would write you a few lines.
January 16, 1969
January 16, 1969
Thursday 10:30 A.M.
Dear Larry:
Well, here I am again with a few lines and hoping you are ok. As yet, we haven’t been getting any mail from you. What have you been doing? I can’t understand why you can’t write to us more often. Here is hoping again today that the mailman will bring a letter from you.
Dad worked at the club last night, and this morning, he decided that he didn’t want to go to work. He hasn’t been off for some time, so he called in and told them he was sick. He will probably end up sleeping most of the day.
January 14, 1969
January 14, 1969
Tuesday 10 A.M.
Dear Larry:
Well, here I am again with a few lines to let you know all is well here and hope you are the same. We haven’t heard from you in some time again, but I keep hoping for a letter soon.
It is still cold as ever in Anderson, with snow on the ground and the streets are still slick. The kids went back to school yesterday, but the buses are slow coming around to pick them up. It’s been slick and cold since the first of the year. The weatherman said today that it is supposed to get a little warmer. I sure hope so, then maybe it will melt some of the slick spots. When we go out now, we have to walk on needles and pins to keep from falling. Ha.
January 10, 1969
Friday, January 10, 1969
9 A.M.
Dear Larry:
Well, here it is Friday morning. The sun is shining, but it is a very cold day. The temperature is 1 above zero this morning. The kids where not in school yesterday and again today because the roads are covered with ice and it is really slick. We went to one of Karl’s games at North Side Wednesday and it took about 30 minutes to get there because the traffic was so slow. This is Dad’s week off and he said he was glad because he had a few days of rough driving. He said his truck broke down two times yesterday so he had to work overtime and didn’t get home till almost 7 last night. I had hot vegetable soup for supper and then after supper, he went to work at the club.
January 6, 1969
Monday, January 6, 1969
9:30 P.M.
Dear Larry:
Thought I would write a few lines and send you some clippings from the paper. I thought it would be better for you to read it in the paper than for me to try and write about it. Be sure to read about the 2 youths. We were very shocked to hear about that.
Well, we finally had our first big snow as you can see in the paper. Tresa and I went out and shoveled snow off the sidewalks this evening and it is really crispy out. I also took the Christmas lights off the front porch.
January 1, 1969 – New Years Day
January 1, 1969
Wednesday 1 P.M.
New Years Day
Dear Larry,
Well, here it is a new year and is it ever cold outside. The windows are frosted from top to bottom. The temperature was below zero this morning and right now it is 11 degrees above zero, so it is not warming up much. This morning we went to the 10 o’clock mass and we about froze our fannies off. HA. It’s windy out and it makes it feel that much colder.
Well, in a way, I am glad that the holidays are over. Now things will be going back to normal. I can’t believe that in a couple of days you will be in the service a year already. Did the time go by quick for you? In a few months your time will be up in Vietnam and I am looking forward to that day.
December 24-26, 1968
Christmas Eve ’68
Hi, how are you? This is going to be a short letter because my paper supply is limited as my time is. What did you do on Christmas? What are you gonna do on New Years? Do you think you’ll get drunk as anything?
Mother has been busy today. She baked a ham and 3 pumpkin pies. Last night, she made some cranberry salad. Aunt Mary, Uncle Deda and Uncle Ray were just over here. Aunt Mary got me a pretty blue nightgown. Uncle Deda got me a pair of underpants and Uncle Ray got me a real neat yellow dress with a scarf to match. It is really cool. Barbara got me a pretty cool pair of earrings and a bracelet to match. Carol Porter bought me a charm for my charm bracelet. Vicki Lanone got me some scented perfume and Kathy bought me 3 pairs of really cool earrings. Uncle Tommy got me a real neat pair of cameo earrings. So far, we have just opened presents that our aunts and uncles got for us, but will open the rest from mother and Dad on Christmas morning.
“This Christmas holiday has been a lonesome one for me.”
Christmas day [December 25, 1968]
Dear Larry:
Received your Christmas card and were glad you got the package. It wasn’t much, but I am glad you received it. Whatever you want and think we can send to you, write and let me know.
This Christmas holiday has been a lonesome one for me. We had 4 days off and Uncle Harold has been sick and is still in bed. That flu that everyone is getting is bad and it hit him hard as he has bad lungs. Tomorrow starts another work day.
December 17, 1968
Tuesday, Dec. 17, 1968
10:30 A.M.
Dear Larry:
I thought I would take time out to write you a few lines.
I went shopping with Joanna yesterday and I am kinda behind on my housework. In a way, I’ll be glad when Christmas is over because it means a lot of running around trying to please my family for Christmas.
I didn’t get anything for you, but like I said in one of the other letters, I’ll buy you what you need when you get home. I doubt if there is anything I can get you to use over there.
Well, how are you doing? How did you spend your birthday? We thought of you on Saturday, and I baked a white cake and fixed half of the turkey that I got for Thanksgiving. We even sang Happy Birthday to you with one candle on the cake, which was Tresa’s idea. The cake and turkey didn’t last long. The next day, the cake was all gone. I let Joanna take some of the turkey and cake home with her.
Thanksgiving 2011
Over the long weekend, we made it to Indiana and celebrate Thanksgiving with the Rudolf side of the family. We managed to photograph some of the holiday to try and share the memories that we created. Enjoy!
The Indianapolis Colts shrine.
A “tin” man sculpture hanging in Carol’s backyard.
Amelia’s pre-cooked dumplings.
The Thanksgiving turkey that Randy Fite, Carol’s husband, grilled.
Our Thanksgiving feast featuring turkey, ham, mashed potatoes, green beans, chicken and dumplings, corn bread and several different pies.
A sample plateful of food. You can expect that there were seconds.
Carol planted this tree in her backyard the year that Larry passed. It’s now 11 years old and thriving with Christmas lights.
Uncle Tommy and Aunt Mary, Amelia’s brother and sister.
Cory and Amelia. You can’t really tell who is the younger one.
Amelia and us, Cory and Jeff.
Jeff and Amelia (Grandma Rudolf).
A picture of Amelia when she was younger. Isn’t she beautiful?
