“Their hair is as long as the girl’s especially when they are driving their car.”
Sunday, Feb. 2
Dear Larry:
I’ll bet you are thinking that I forgot about you, but I hadn’t. Called at Mother’s house and Tresa answered. She said Dad was getting supper and Mom was at St. Ambrose church doing some kind of work. I talked to Mother the first part of the week and she read your mail to me. We all worry over you and Mother feels so bad when she don’t hear from you. Tomorrow, Mother goes to start her driving lessons and she is really worried and afraid she can’t learn how to drive. After she learns, she will wonder how she got along without knowing how!
February 2, 1969
Feb. 2, 1969
Sunday 8 P.M.
Dear Larry:
Well, here it is Groundhog Day and as far as here in Anderson, he didn’t see his shadow, because it was cloudy here all day.
I just got home from St. Ambrose Hall, the teenagers had their monthly dinner tonight, so I had to help serve. They had steak sandwiches, potato salad, baked beans, and a relish dish and ice cream bars for dessert.
Last night, I went to Bingo and got home around midnight, and when I got in the house, I found a surprise. Tresa, Karl, and Dad bought bookshelves, it has 6 shelves in it. 1 – 12 inch, 2 – 10 inch, 3 – 8 inch shelves, and 36 inches wide. It looks real nice, so now we have a place for our new Encyclopedias and other books and what nots and trophies.
January 25, 1969
January 25, 1969
Dear Larry:
Well, here I am again and I don’t know if I should even be writing to you as I don’t even know if you are getting my mail or not. I just cannot believe that we haven’t heard from you in so long. The last letter you wrote to us was dated the 29th of December. I don’t want you to think that I am giving you the devil, because I am only a concerned parent, and I sure would be a heck of a parent if I didn’t care. I know that you probably get tired of writing everyday, but heavens, I think that at least we could hear from you more often than we do. I have a lot of people ask about you and I don’t know what to tell them since we don’t get mail. I can’t even get Dad to write. He said that he doesn’t hear from you, so why should he write. I just can’t be that way. I feel like I want to write to you whether you write or not. Like I said, I would be a heck of a mother if I didn’t care, and I will keep on writing to you and just hope that we get a letter soon. Everyday I keep hoping. I know that you probably think that I am giving you the devil, but I don’t want you to think that because all I ever look forward to is to see you get home and away from Vietnam.
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.
