1317 N. Charles St.Lady dear,
Your two letters were good to receive. I accept their love with gratitude, and also with that silence characteristic of such days as I am living thro!
Father is adapting himself well. Richard & [h]is nurse who was mother's companion are at Sherborn, & will remain there till after Christmas. As for me I am back here. Business is at a standstill. The teaching marches on, but I cannot seem to push myself to research just now. I rationalize by calling it fatigue. Now is the time when I could see patients without being bored, but of course they are not coming.
I return the Moses letter. [no longer with this letter] While I agree with you that such energy and quiet balance should be rewarded by encouragement to carry out one's ambitions and hopes, still I do not feel like advising her to embark upon the medical voyage. While I believe she could carry out the program successfully, I know that her physical handicap would militate [?] against her terribly. Deformities such as you describe unconsciously prejudice in this line of work, more alas! than personality unfitness. The sick demand strength to look at, and unfortunately associate it with sound advice & wisdom. The medical path is hard for anyone; it is harder for a woman than a man, & harder yet for a woman with visible physical handicap. The road is long, & tedious. One must consider not only the 4 years of confining study, but also the 4 more years of hospital apprenticeship, after which one enters the field of practise to begin the real struggle in competition. A great many fall before it. I am impressed with the fact more & more every day as I see classmates of my own (1915), trudging the streets in shiny clothes & a leather bag, just keeping soul & body going. The strain on body & spirit is terrific. Of course there is the field of research which might open up to her, but the line of medicine lies in its personal contacts - at least so it is to me. She sounds that way too.
So much love goes out to you
from
Esther