family April 13, 1945

Posted May 22, 2007 • Comments Off on April 13, 1945

In my cleaning and tidying today, I came across a small journal I hadn’t read in a long time. My grandmother wrote a few letters to my mother in it when she was a baby. There isn’t a lot in it, maybe ten or twelve entries all told, but there’s one that stands out in a big way. It’s the only one that mentions anything happening outside their home and family.

When history is happening to you, around you, you may not realize your time will be remembered. The war was still on, even in Europe, in April. Much of the journal is written the way you’d write to a baby, explaining things in simple terms, without realizing the baby will of course be an adult when she reads it. The way she wrote here about the news of the day is as though my mother, reading it decades later, wouldn’t know these things had happened. It’s odd and charming. Also charming is how she wrote last names (Hoover, Landon, and so on) and filled in “Mr.” afterward, so as not to be disrespectful.

April 13, 1945 – Friday

For 2 weeks we have looked forward to Friday the 13th of April—you would be 11 months old. The day came and almost went without our remembering—The news which came over the radio yesterday late afternoon shocked us too much to remember anything else. Our beloved President of the United States died at 4:35 Washington time—3:35 P.M. Cleveland time. He was the peoples choice by a wide majority for 4 terms. Never before has a President been elected for 4 presidential terms. Mr. Roosevelt was a humanitarian—he catered to the little man—the poor people—taxed big business to give to the worker. The first time he won against Mr. Hoover—neither your Dad nor I voted for him. Mostly because we were Republicans and he was a Democrat. The second election in 1936 against Mr. Landon your Dad was for him—I against. Your Dad felt he had helped him by giving the worker higher wages and shorter hours. From then on we were both for him.

War came to Europe and we knew we would eventually be in it. President Roosevelt was a politician and a fighter. He got what he wanted and made many changes in our government. Much criticism was given him for his spending so freely on his projects—ran the national debt into the billions—but for the war he couldn’t be equalled—he forsaw what was coming and fought for preparation when the isolationists couldn’t see beyond their noses.

His idea was for regimentation—which for postwar worried many of us—he wanted everyones wages to be on a scale—price of goods on a scale—the same job and same merchandise would be the same price—that way good workers & poor workers on the same job would get the same salary. After this last election many worried that we would be communistic and lose our freedom. With his death I believe all these fears are over.

Harry Truman is soft spoken—easily led, I believe, but do not feel will destroy our way of life. It is too bad Mr. Roosevelt could not have lived to write the peace—he would have been more firm. We may have another war in 20 years now because of Mr. Roosevelt dying before the Axis were brought to their knees. Mr. Roosevelt was working toward permanent peace.

I am so glad you are a girl—maybe we can keep you with us if there should be another war. I dread thinking about war—because it is awful.

You are sweeter than ever—now at 11 months you are so much fun. I love you—Susan, dear.

The next entry is two years later, in May of 1947. The next is a year after that, when my uncle was a baby. Then nothing for fifteen years, until November 3, 1963, when my mother was nineteen. It ends with the words “Maybe if luck holds out I will live long enough to see both my children happily married—then my job is done.”