Dog Days of Summer

Like many New Yorkers in August, Sylvia took a trip to the Catskills to escape the city for a few days. In this letter, her writing feels lighter as she breathes in the country air with Adrienne at her side – making friends with strangers, eating well, and toddling about.

Monday, August 28, 1944

Darling –

I’ve been up here in the country since last Thursday night. The trip was long, but it was rather nice as Cookie was the pride of the train. She got bored after a while with sitting in her seat and decided to take a walk down the aisle. I ran after her lurching and staggering down the aisle hardly able to keep my balance, while she very calmly walked and ran very gracefully without even holding on. Everyone was roaring. And she’s such a friendly little brat, she made friends with everyone – and one woman was so delighted with her, she drove us to Catskill from the station (her car was waiting for her).

Up here, darling, our little angel eats beautifully. She eats a hearty breakfast of juice, an egg and a big bowl of cereal followed in an hour by a glass of milk. She sleeps from 10:30 or so to about 12:30 every morning – but I just can’t get her to go to sleep at night. Don’t know what to do about it.

2-

Anyway, babe, she looks much better than she did. I haven’t had much laundry to do because there’s only one other kid up here and the bathroom isn’t taken up every minute so I can take her in. However, yesterday she developed a loose bowel movement again and so the diapers are collecting again. However, she is a very good baby up here. And she enjoys it very much. So I guess I won’t go home until I hear from with the Project – and believe me, honey, I’m all caught up about it. I told Sadie to let to call me on the phone as soon as any mail came from them so that I could catch the first train into the city. Darling, I’ll write you as soon as I hear from them – and I hope it’s soon. This waiting is making me very impatient. It’s going to be sweet to be in our own home again. And I will and it will be good for Adrienne too. You must be anxious to see her as well — there are two rolls of film being developed – and I started another role today. We went to Saratoga and took some beautiful pictures near the geysers there.

3-

And I hope that they all come out well. As soon as I get them you’ll get them to. (By the way – don’t forget to send me the names and addresses of the other gun crew and I’ll send them the pictures.) Darling, why didn’t you awaken me to say goodbye? Can you imagine how I felt when I woke up and realized what a cold send-off you got – and what a terrible feeling it gave me! Baby, I’ll never forgive myself for that!… But dearest when you come home I’ll make it up to you.

Alex, believe me I love you terribly and I miss you terribly. Don’t worry about anything, because I’ll do nothing – as I want nothing to spoil our happiness. All I want is to have you back home with us. When I asked Cookie” where’s daddy?” She looks all over and says “dad.” Darling, take care of yourself all my love to you.

Faithfully,

Sylvia

**

I like to choose letters that loosely correspond to the current time of year because it makes it easier to relate and identify the parallels of Sylvia’s life and my own.

This August letter happens to be about taking a vacation out of the city, which my family just did for the first time this summer. We drove to Lake Erie where my son saw a beach and went in the water for the first time. He was delighted by the big blue sky and expansive lake and, most of all, by all of the family members that he met for the first time (ah, the life of a pandemic baby). It was heavenly to be out of the city for a few days, and to be surrounded by people showering him (and us) with love.

In this letter, Adrienne, is walking through train cars without holding on and she is almost exactly my son’s age – who is gearing up for his first steps any minute. I love the details that Sylvia includes in this letter because they’re the kinds of details only a mother would think to include. A loose bowel movement? Adrienne’s nap schedule? These are details I delight in (though thankfully I am not dealing with cloth diapers – and before you judge me please keep in mind that our apartment does not have a washer and dryer). Sylvia mentions that she will return to the city for “the Project” as soon as she hears any news about it but for now, we’ll focus on letting her enjoy her trip to upstate New York. I hope you, reader, have gotten to dip your toes in some water or found a moment to luxuriate in a soft summer breeze this summer. I’ll be here, clinging to memories of vacation, both ancestral and more recent.