March 29, 1970 The Craziest Storm, The Air Force, The Little Something, The Girls' Dresses and The 1970 Census

Dear Mother & Daddy,

"Things are really lively around here this weekend. Ann got home Tuesday without any problems and then Wednesday was a rainy and finally snowy day. Of course, you heard about all the snow in Chicago and we had it too, Wednesday night and Thursday. Bob & Pat's flight was cancelled when they got to the airport Thurs. morning so they took another plane to Baltimore and got one to St. Louis from there. They called us & told us about the change so we went to the St. Louis airport instead of Chicago. It was the craziest storm I ever saw. We had so much & there was just a smattering down toward Lincoln & none in Springfield. By the time we got home Thursday evening it was almost gone. It is still quite cold though.

Pat's brother, Michael, was sent to Rantoul (Chanute Air Force Base) only last week so Bob & Pat went after him this morning and he'll stay with us until tomorrow evening. He is Ann's age so we have all been having fun. He volunteered for the Air Force in January & has been in Texas. He'll be here until mid-summer so we'll probably see a lot of him. He said this was the first time he's been in a home since he left Atlanta.

Bob K. will be here sometime tomorrow afternoon. I don't know how long he will stay. All of us are going to Chicago on Monday so Pat can have her interviews. Then she & Bob have to leave for Williamsburg on Tuesday. She has to teach on Wednesday.

They both look fine. Bob has gained quite a lot of weight but looks good. He was too thin. He still has his beard and it looks nice but I have a feeling it won't last much longer. It will have to be trimmed a lot soon to stay looking nice and I doubt if he's willing to fool around with it.

I'm sorry that you haven't been feeling well, Mother. don't you think you ought to have Dr. Myers look you over? Maybe it is some little something that he could take care of right away. He'd probably tell you to go to bed until you feel better & that's the best advice anyone could have but I know you wouldn't. You can lie around on the couch, though.

The girls' dresses were fine and they were thrilled with them. Ann's had to be seamed down a little around the waist but that was easy to do. My dress is ready to hem but I probably won't do that until Ann goes back. Today I've let out some pants for Bob (the waist) and hemmed up a raincoat for Pat. They brought winter clothes home to leave. It has been 70º in Williamsburg and the flowers are blooming.

We got our census questionnaire today but I haven't looked it over yet.

Bob has been printing pictures in the basement tonight & he & B did some last night. He cleaned off his chemistry table and fixed it up with all of B's old printing equipment. I'm glad we've kept it all these years. It was a little sad to see him throw out all the little bottles of chemicals & broken chemistry glassware that he used so long but he wanted to get rid of it.

 Ann is making cookies & they sure smell good. I wish you had a plate of them.

Take care of yourselves and Mother, you get some extra rest so you'll feel better. The work will wait."

                         Lots of love,

                                 Bonnie

NOTE:  Take a look at the census form for 1970. It's amazing that so many people complied and submitted it.

https://www.census.gov/history/pdf/1970_questionnaire.pdf