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 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.
Karol and Apolonia Rudolf’s Gravestone – 1960s
This photo was taken at Maplewood Cemetery in Anderson, IN. It shows Joanna, Carol and Larry in the back and Tresa and Karl in the front. They are standing behind the grave of their father Charlie’s parents and their grandparents, Karol and Apolonia Rudolf. We can only assume this photo was taken before 1963, which is when Apolonia passed away, because the date is not filled in yet. Most of them never met Karol as he passed away in 1948 when Larry, the second oldest, was only one year old.
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 22, 1968
December 22, 1968
5:00 P.M.
Dear Larry:
Thought I had better write a few lines since I hadn’t written you the last couple of days. How are you? Ok I hope. Here everyone is ok so far.
Today is the Children’s Christmas Party at the club, so Tresa and Karl went. Tresa just got home with 4 bags of nuts and candy and a gift from Santa. Karl isn’t home as yet and neither is Dad. I imagine Dad will stay until the last dog is gone. Ha. He didn’t have to work today, but I imagine his day will be busy tomorrow.
Today here is a very cloudy, rainy day. The weather man said it is supposed to snow tomorrow, so maybe we just might have a white Christmas.
1965 – Miss Postwoman
This is Larry’s younger sister, Tresa, wearing their father’s postman uniform in January of 1965.
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.
December 14, 1968
Saturday
Dec. 14, 1968
10:25 A.M.
Dear Larry,
How are you? I haven’t written to you in such a long time and I thought I’d better get to it before you send me a spanking. (HA HA) I can write you more than I usually do because I haven’t written to you in a long time and because there’s more to tell you since 2 birthdays have already passed. I haven’t written you in about 2 months. Guess what? I’m a freshman, in my first year of high school, because I got a 93 on my 50 word spelling test. That means I’m just a 9th grade speller. I’m really only in fifth grade. Hey Larry, I can do a flip. Mommy would have burned your cake but I reminded her to take it out of the oven. Oh yea, today’s your birthday. It probably was yesterday for you. Did you go to a beer joint since you’re 21? I just got through reading your letters you wrote to me July 29, 1968 and August 20, 1968. Them were the only two letters you wrote me and that was a long time ago. We didn’t get our tree but Orlicks already did.
December 12, 1968
Dec. 12, 1968
Thursday 10:30 AM
Dear Larry:
Well, here it is two days before your birthday, so I had thought I had better write a few lines to let you know we are all ok and just hoping that you are the same. By the time you get this letter, you will be 21 years old. I will probably bake a cake and even though you are not here, we will be thinking of you and wonder what you will be doing. Let us know.
It is cloudy and windy here today. The weather man said that it is supposed to rain and get colder and then the rain is supposed to change to snow tomorrow.
I haven’t been writing to you as much as I did, but that is because I have been busy trying to get caught up on some of the work around home. I am making some new curtains for my kitchen as the ones up there now are about shot. I want to finish the new ones, so I can put them up before Christmas.
