[Paragraph breaks are added for ease of reading.]I can't stop to write a very fancy letter.
South Hadley
Friday evening [Nov 30, 1888]
I suppose you fully realize that you are sweet sixteen and that all the present you have from me is this letter and this a pretty slim one. I commenced this letter before supper and will now add a little.
It is silent time in the evening when we can do anything but talk. I have just come back from recess meeting. Miss Sthepens (I don't know what possessed me to spell it so) lets us have the meeting to ourselves once in a week and one of the girls lead. It was my turn tonight.
Sarah has quite a cold in her speaking aparaties and I have been trying to have her go to bed. I guess she will go pretty soon. I am going to give her some hot ginger tea and see how that will work.
Lu is still at home and you don't know how much easier the room keeps clear we don't have to work more than half as long to pick up in the morning. She has always been very waited on at home. I don't see what the domance [?] has caught cold for it can't be very beneficial to the community.
I wish I had a piece of that lemon pie and I wouldnt object to some of the squash. Our squash pies are pumpkin and as for lemon pies those don't grow here. We had turkey, cranberry sauce mashed potato, mince pie and grapes for our dinner. For breakfast chicken and toast and our supper what we had was at the reception in the evening.
The old fashioned spelling match Tuesday evening was a complete success. The girls dressed up in long sleeved aprons and wore sunbonnets and braided their hair and acted as much like children as possible. Dr. Marchant was schoolmaam and did her part very well.
Last evening was the reception we had a fine time[.] The teachers were dressed up representing characters of Dickens. There was Peggoty, Sara Garrup Jennie Wren, Betsey Brotwood and others. Even Miss Edwards took one character[.] Miss Hodgkins my Algebra teacher was about as good as any. She represented some sort of a crazy person and do all they could the girls couldn't make her laugh but twice. The Dr. was stuffed out with only two pillows and her face was colored with rouge. Grant was there I spoke with him about five minutes. He looked rather lost for there were only four other young men there.
Sarah had a letter this evening saying that there was a box on the way but it hasn't reached here yet. I don't know as I need any thing new this winter. They wear every thing under the sun for hats mostly these plane [sic] walking hats. You need not get me any christmas thing except a pair of mittens and chose [sic] some dark colour. That is if there isn't any thing there that will answer[.]
I can't afford to get up and get any writing paper so I will use this. I must make Sarah's ginger tea and have it good and strong. Gertrude Somes slept in Lu's bed last night because her roommate was away.
I went to hear Dr. Love's thanksgiving sermon and wore my black dress and long black coat determined that I would keep warm and succeeded pretty well until he come [sic] o fifthly and there I began to congeal. When he gets to fifthly you may think he isn't going to stop and that church is the worst I ever saw to keep warm or aired. It is the stuffyest [sic] place I ever stepped into and we sit where the cold air creeps up our spinal column. You can't appreciate our feelings unless you see Dr. Love. He is the personification of gloominess. I havn't [sic] seen him smile since I have been here and I hate to go there and call but they say Mrs. Love is just the opposite.
I have used as much paper as I think advisable.
Yours truly
S. A. B.[Perhaps Lu is Lulu Bliss 1891; I cannot connect up the two Bliss families via familysearch.org, but maybe they are related.]