Letter from Elsie Ash to her Aunt Ruth in Sweden
(Translated from Swedish)

                                    1140 North LaSalleStreet
                                    Chicago 10, Illinois

                                                       November 21, 1956

 Dear Aunt Ruth,

Thank you dear Aunt Ruth  for the letter you sent me in October. I hope you will forgive me for being so late in replying to it, but time flies when one has to work for one’s living.

 What a fun and noisy time it must have been when the eight children were visiting you on their summer holiday. It would be nice to have a photo of them.

 It must be empty and lonely now that Uncle Oscar is gone, especially at Christmas. This will be the first Christmas since Mother died. She was in a coma for five days. I was with her every minute. At five in the morning she asked if the mail had arrived. She said: ‘I can’t understand why Ruth is taking so long to write to me.’ That afternoon, a letter arrived from Sister Ruth. She sat up in bed and read the letter. Then she asked me to get her a cup of coffee. She wanted to be alone for a few minutes. The next day when Aunt Beda and Ellen came to see her, Mother was out of bed, and she said: ‘Elsie, get Ruth’s letter so that Ellen and Beda can read it’. That letter was better than any medicine for Mother!

My little grandson is now ten months old. He is starting to walk  but is still holding on the furniture. He is so sweet. I have invited them to dinner on Thanksgiving Day.

Aunt Beda will be happy to hear that the parcel arrived and that the shoes fit you perfectly.

It would be so nice if you could come and visit us. I hope you are in good health. I wish you a Happy Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Love

Elsie

 

Letter from Elsie to her Aunt Ruth in Sweden
(Translated from Swedish)

                                                1140 North LaSalle Street

                                              Chicago 10, Illinois

                                               September 20, 1956

 Dear Aunt Ruth,

 Thank you, Aunt Ruth, for the letter you sent to Aunt Ellen and in which you say that you miss my mother. I am so sad that Mother had to leave us. She was such a good and fine person. She sent me two letters every week. Now I shall never have any letters from her again.

 Aunt Ellen, Beda and Hildegarde went to the hospital every day to see Mother.

 I am very proud of my son. He is a music teacher at a high school in Highland Park, Michigan. He is studying for a Master’s Degree at Wayne University, Detroit, so that he can make more money for his family. His little boy is so sweet. He is 8 months old now. I travel 200 miles to Detroit to see Bill, Marion and little Loren.

I had a vacation in August. I went to the Smokey Mountains. It was incredibly beautiful there and the climate was so nice.

Best regards and thanks again for your letter.

Elsie