A Letter Written on Mar 10, 1940

Bessie B. Nesbit
Mount Holyoke College
South Hadley, Mass.

Sun. March 10, 1940

Dear Mama & Papa,

Greetings! This week has been quite a wonderful one for me. The first part of the week I couldn't seem to study, but I studied quite hard toward the last. Thursday I cut two classes & Gym. & studied for my Religion blue book. It came on Friday & was not too bad at all. We had 10 spot passages. There was one wisdom passage that I placed in Job or Ecclesiastes or Proverbs & of course it was in Proverbs. The rest of the test was not particularly difficult or long. I hope, I hope I get a B. This week end various parts of the college sponsored a marriage forum. There was a woman psychologist & a man from the Human Relations Dep't of M.I.T. The woman spoke on the problem of "Dating" at 5 on Friday, & it was pretty bad. Mr. Magoun the man from M.I.T. spoke Friday evening on "Sex Relations before & after Marriage." He was simply wonderful. I think without a doubt that that was the best lecture I have ever heard at college. He started out by saying that there was one thing he wanted us to go away with & that was there should be more analysis and less love before marriage & more love and less analysis after marriage. Then he proceeded to tackle the subject at hand very well. He didn't beat around the bush at all. He said that the bush at all. He said that a man didn't respect a woman who had had sextual [sic] relations with him before marriage. He didn't very favor very much spooning before marriage because that is the real pleasure in marriage. They passed out paper & loads of questions were banded in & he answered all of them. He was such a success that Dean Robinson had the Library kept open after closing time while he answered questions. It was really wonderful to hear the truth from a man who was expressing the whole truth in no uncertain terms.

Sat. morning I washed my hair & went to another lecture in the series[.] Then I washed my clothes & studied. Sat night Stelle took me to "The Merchant of Venice" given by the Dramatic Club. It was quite good.

I forgot to say that Sally left on Sat. Friday morning for West Point. Friday evening I had Stelle & her roommate to dinner & I am also going to have them tonight. I don't think it would be wise for me to come home this coming week end because the next Friday Spring vacation starts.

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Thanks ever so much for the Lux, bathrobe, & check. They came at just the opportune time. The sermon this morning was given by Dwight S. Moody's son & was simply awful. That is putting it mildly.

I just got your letter & was so interested to hear all the news. It's too bad about the fish but we can get a couple of pairs & soon nature will set to work to remedy the situation. Things often happen all together like this & I think that you two have been so wonderful. You know the other night as the man was speaking about how few really happy marriages there are & what the tangeable [sic] things are that make them such. I couldn't help thinking that you two have one of those perfect marriages. Sometimes when things go wrong and I talk with you. - each one is worrying about the other. If God had never given me anything else this one perfect thing would be enough to want make me want to succeed. Someone once said that tributes to living people living are always better than those given after they are dead. I want to thank my mother and father for the most wonderful thing a person can have - - the love of two people, really one who are home and create with each other a happiness so rich and complete that their child can conceive of heaven in terms of home. Thank you - this has been your gift to me.

Love,
Bessie