[Some paragraph breaks added for ease of reading.]
Bessie B. Nesbit
Mount Holyoke College
South Hadley, Mass.Mon. Feb. 26, 1940
Dear Mama & Papa,
Greetings! Thanks ever so much for the special & for the check which arrived to day. I bought a pin for Sally for a dollar & am going to take her to tea tomorrow afternoon. Tonight she is going to have a birthday party in her room with the cake & things her mother sent her. She is quite happy & it makes other people happy to look at her.
Some of the things she got were
8 dollars from aunts
From her mother & father
a new Easter suit
a new silk dress
a new hat
two new bags
two necklaces
a slip
& some stockings. She also got a no. of cards & letters.I haven't heard anything from the Bd. of Ed. so I shall write to them tomorrow.
Saturday afternoon & evening I had one of my bad head aches & yesterday I was all tired out. I heard a simply wonderful sermon yesterday in Ch. After church I walked home with Miss Laird & we had a long talk. I always feel sort of happy after I have talked with her. She seems much more rested & like herself than she has been for a long time.
Yesterday after lunch the Fellowship of Faiths had a little informal discussion led by the man who preached. He was Dr. Van Dusen, Dean of Union Theological Seminary. The discussion was the Christian's attitude toward the present war. He was very fair. He admitted he had once been one of the pacifists who had advocated peace at any cost. But he said he had changed his stand & practically admitted that there was something worse than war.
If I were a boy, & were going to become a minister I would certainly go to Union. Not only did I like his ideas, but he has a wonderful personality. He sort of beams on the world. I wish you could have talked with him, papa, I am sure you would find one man who knows when to admit that he is wrong.
All in all, yesterday was a most enjoyable day & one of those red letter days that stands out. I didn't fare quite so well to day. I don't think I did very well on my Chem quiz. My pen is not acting very well. It nearly drove me crazy in Chem. Lab this afternoon. I think perhaps I'll have to get a new one sometime soon.
I am looking forward to coming home this week end. Speaking of this week end, Sally may go to the dance after all. The boy hadn't answered her because he wanted to make sure about driving conditions first.
Sally liked your card an awful lot.
Are you all right now, Mama, after the explosion? I don't like that a bit. Please promise me that you'll never stay in the church alone & that you'll stay as far from the furnace room as possible. I'm not sure that steam heat is n't a better means of heating, anyway.
Speaking about having confidence in people, I think my parents and Miss Laird have entirely too much confidence in me but sometimes it is this misplaced confidence which keeps me going.
Do you suppose I could have a new spring coat? This question doesn't really fit in here but my letters are written the way my mind works not the way they should be written.
I am going over to the Libe to study till 9.
Love & kisses
Your obedient daughter,
Bessie