December 16, 1944 The Busy Season, Teeth Inquiry, The Truth About the Fire, The Laundry Won't Do Underwear and The Battle of the Bulge

Dear Mother & Daddy,

"This has been some week.  We have hardly had time to breathe.  Last night I went to a party and it was so nice.  The girl lives in a duplex and she had her house all decorated with candles and evergreens.  It was so Christmacy.  The table was beautiful.  We had ice cream, cake and coffee.  The cake was white with tiny candy pots of poinsettias on the top.  She had red candles and the plates and glasses sat on red crepe paper poinsettias. 

I'm all ready and waiting for B to come after me to go to Hopkins to a Christmas dinner.  He had a class till 11:00, a business meeting at 11:00 and then was to come after me, so he's busy too.

Tonight we are having two people in to dinner and then we're going to a play.

Our Dames Christmas party is Wednesday night and my party for my school kids is Thursday afternoon.  That will be the last of my teaching.  My vacation at Teachers College begins Friday.

B has started to write on his dissertation now and we feel that is a big step.  We plan to start typing next week.

Did you get all of your butchering done?  I wish I could be there to help.  I wouldn't even mind mixing the sausage.  Ha!

I hope your face and gums are well now.  I am glad I won't have to see you with your teeth out.  Be careful and don't take cold.  Did the dentist think your teeth were causing your hands to swell?  Are they sore?  How is Daddy and his shoulder?

I hope your package has reached you.  We mailed them all at the same time and B's mother said theirs  had come.  We sent a little package to Grandma too.

It's a good thing I won't be teaching I guess.  There are so many things to do and I'll have a lot of typing to do for B.  I send my laundry to the laundry and just wash my underwear and B's sox and underwear.  The laundry doesn't like to take underwear and hankies.  So there isn't much ironing to do and I do it piece-meal.

The fire scared me at first and then I thought it was so silly to be scared when the firemen were here and there were plenty of ways I could get out of the building.

I guess this will be the last letter you get from us before Christmas so have a very Merry Christmas.  We'll be thinking of you all and may God bless you and keep you everyone."

                                    Oodles of love,

                                             B & Bonnie
                                  
NOTE from Ann:  Bonnie talked often about being so busy during this time that she "hardly had time to do anything".  She said that war news was always followed closely but had become a part of everyday life.

Listen to Judy Garland singing, "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" from the musical, "Meet Me in St. Louis", 1944.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jNAyZNzLCuQ

For the war news of Dec. 16, 1944, see information below on the Battle of the Bulge.

Introduction to the Battle of the Bulge
In December 1944 Adolph Hitler directed an ambitious counteroffensive with the object of regaining the initiative in the west and compelling the Allies to settle for a negotiated peace.
Hitler's generals were opposed to the plan, but the Fuhrer's will prevailed and the counteroffensive was launched on December 16, 1944, by some 30 German divisions against Allied lines in the Ardennes region. Allied defenses there had been thinned to provide troops for the autumn defensive. Hitler's intention was to drive through Antwerp and cut off and annihilate the British 21st Army Group and the U.S. First and Ninth Armies north of the Ardennes.
Aided by stormy weather which grounded Allied planes and restricted observation, the Germans achieved surprise and made rapid gains at first, but firm resistance by various isolated units provided time for the U.S. First and Ninth Armies to shift against the northern flank of the penetration, for the British to send reserves to secure the line to the Meuse, and for Patton's Third Army to hit the salient from the south.
Denied vital roads and hampered by air attack when the weather cleared, the German attack resulted only in a large bulge in the Allied lines which did not even extend to the Meuse River, the Germans' first objective. The Americans suffered some 75,000 casualties in the Battle of the Bulge, but the Germans lost 80,000 to 100,000. German strength had been irredeemably impaired.
By the end of January 1945, American units had retaken all ground they had lost, and the defeat of Germany was clearly only a matter of time. In the east the Red Army had opened a winter offensive that was to carry, eventually, to and beyond Berlin.  (Source:  www.WW2history.info/Bulge)

Image above courtesy of www.monumentmen.com