File:Erica (Thorp) de Berry to Anne Allegra (Longfellow) Thorp and Joseph Gilbert Thorp Jr., 22 September 1918 (a7efc581-cafb-494f-b4c4-42150cb6ed17).jpg

Manuscript letter

Archives Number: 1006/004.006.002-006#038

Lacaune
Sept. 22nd, 1918
Dearest Mamma and Papa,
A heartful of love and greetings for your wedding day!
No Berkshire trip this year, but a lovely family reunion, I hope, with Al back for the evening and perhaps Robin there. Think of my not having been there for it for three years! It seems incredible.
I am sitting by my first little bedroom fire — did you ever hear such a luxury for [???] while a freezing downpour rages outside. The rose-covered chintz [p. 2] curtains are closely drawn ^tight^ and it’s the cosiest, cheeriest thing in the world — except that I should love company! However, I have all the pictures around all the latest N.E. Pine [???] and [???] ones, and I try my hardest to imagine a floor covered with stretched out forms and a [???] variety of feet pointing forewards.
The kindergarteners have taken up the tea habit, and it’s been such fun to start up a blaze at goûter2 time with willing hands always ready to split kindling and wash dishes afterwards — anything and everything to earn photographs. and by the way, could [p. 3 marked 2] Papa send me more films of the same size 2 ¼ x 3 ¼ ?
Yesterday we started in on a little Sunday tea-party with a sweet, Marseilles lady — a perfect charmer who has been brought up with true American freedom and understands American ways and habits of thought. In the midst of it, just as the water was beginning to boil with the kettle at a regular Kentucky angle, and no two cups and saucers matching, along came the nobility of Lacaune, accompanied by the Marquise de Rose, with other sturdy souls bringing up the rear. They were somewhat [p. 4] staggered by colony [???] of strawberry pain tartines, but played up nobly to charcoal hands and blackened tea pot. We get caught in such funny ways!
About a fortnight ago the mayor sent word for me ^word^ to prepare for a visit from the Prefect. So we cleaned house, got out the best of everything, and prepared a dignified repast of wine and sandwiches. I thought that at the most there might be half a dozen in the ^his^ train. After waiting all afternoon, getting the children first assembled on a false alarm for a gymnastics exhibition and dispersed again, there arrived first a [p. 5 marked 3] bevy of wives and attendant lady friends, then an awesome uniformed group consisting of not only of the Prefect, but the Sous Préfet , the [???] a general or two and various ministers. You can imagine my feelings at the thought of the 6 wine glasses sitting on my little sideboard!
The Préfet was very charming and gracious, very complimentary and genial, discoursing to the children on Amérique, genuinely interested in the gymnastics and full of nice promises for future favors.
For some strange reason, the wives all got stage fright and hid in my little kitchen [p. 6] while I was showing the colony to the Préfet, so that I was left alone with the whole solemn deputation for solemn health-drinking and compliments. It was a great day!
Our littlest are still with us, as the Bédarieux colony isn’t quite ready. We are in the throes, too, of getting a new personnel to replace the Sisters which is no easy matter. But I think we’re going to have at least one frère instituteur, which will help a lot with the big boys.
One of our sweetest older ones has been sitting all afternoon drawing pictures by my fire, to calm down after a series of “crises de nerfs” in which he [p. 7 marked 4] lives over again seeing his mother killed by asphyxiating gas and himself escaping alone from the Germans. He fights like a wildcat, grabbing at everything and everyone nearly tearing the buttons off his mattress and shouting, “Je vais les tuer, les Bosches!”
It’s the only case of just this kind that we’ve had, and it’s about as sad a thing to see as one can imagine. The Docteur says he’ll outgrow it, though, and for he’s only 14 still. He’s one of the ones I want to bring home with me — our only out-and-out orphan here.
The father of our little Albert who died [p. 8] got here a few days after the funeral — such a fine [???] as stoical as they all are. But to have to go back to the front again after that was about as hard as anything could be. We’ve had many visits from fathers eu[?] permission, in spite of the distance. It’s so interesting to talk to them and feel their gratitude and appreciation of American soldiers and the country behind them.
One ambulance boy strayed in the other day, blew up footballs, and gave us personal accounts of [the battles of] Soissons and Chateau Thierry. You can imagine how glad we were to see him.
Dearest love to you all, and special wedding day love to you, Mamma and Papa dear
from your Bun.

• Keywords: long archives; henry w. longfellow family papers (long 27930); erica (thorp) de berry; document; correspondence; health and illness; lacaune; france; europe; education; school; war; world war i; anne allegra (longfellow) thorp; joseph gilbert thorp jr.; events; social life; Erica Thorp deBerry Papers (1006/004.006); (LONG-SeriesName); Outgoing (1006/004.006.002); (LONG-SubseriesName); 1918 (1006/004.006.002-006); (LONG-FileUnitName)