September 10, 1944: Rummy Dummy!

 

Letter from Opa to Grandmother (and from Winton), September 10, 1944.

Transcription:

Kansas City

September 10 1944

Dearest,

This has been a nice day with Winton and your phone call this morning added a great deal to it. I'll write to you more in detail tomorrow when I'll be more at leisure. I am glad that your operation turned out all right, for I had been worrying about it.

Your and Eilleen's letters came today; as you see, there is Sunday delivery for me. I was so glad to get them. Eilleen's letter is enclosed, for I thought you would enjoy reading it. You should have opened it in the first place. Remember you may open all of my letters.

It is raining now, and I wished you and I were sitting by the fire, reading Faust or playing romme (or poker?). I guess we'll just have to get married soon, no matter what's going to happen.

I'll be looking forward to next weekend, there'll be so many things to talk about and think about.

Yesterday, I went to a book sale and bought two books: a novel for 25 cents, and an engineer's handbook, brand new, for 3.75 (original price 5 bucks.) I needed the handbook anyway, so I decided to take advantage of the sale.

Winton and I went out to Swope Park in order to get a boat, but the boat house is closed for the winter, so, after getting acquainted with the monkeys in the zoo, we took a stroll over the Plaza, ate there and went back home. Plans for tonight aren't definite yet, but we'll find some enjoyable way to spend it, I am sure.

What have you been doing today? I hope you got some of your well-deserved rest. Goodbye till tomorrow, when I'll write again.

Love,

Tom.

Dear Margie,

Tom and I have spent a quiet but very pleasant day together so far. It was a disappointment, however, that you could not be here to share our enjoyment. The army makes seeking pleasure very difficult and planning for it in advance almost impossible. There will be a time, I hope, when that is no longer true. Tom said that you had read and liked my poem for which I am very glad. We shall spend time in the book store, eat dinner together, then very soon I shall have to leave. Sunday I hope we can all be in Kansas City together. In the meantime do take good care of Skunky.

Winton

Opa must feel relieved in many ways. Grandmother's operation went well, he got to hear from her, and he's enjoying the company of a great friend. I bet that went a long way in light of his tenuous situation, while he watches for what immigration will do. 

I love how nerdy he is, and my Grandmother. I didn't fall far from that tree. Romme is "Rummy" the card game that I played a lot growing up, with both sets of grandparents actually. Opa and Grandmother played the Gin Rummy version more. My maternal grandmother and I had a long-running rummy game, and I can still hear her voice in my head when I accidentally discarded a card that could be played: "Rummy Dummy!" Ha. You have to believe me when I say that she didn't hurt my feelings when she said that, it was like a rule that you had to say it. I delighted calling "rummy dummy" on her. 

I appreciate that Opa gives Grandmother open season on any letters that come in for him. She is managing his mail while he is in transition. I think they purposely did not leave a forwarding address beyond Grandmother to make it just a little more difficult for the FBI/IRS/or whoever might not like Opa, to find him. So Opa is saying to Grandmother that she can open any letter he gets before forwarding it to him. That's total trust! Also, knowing my Grandmother, she did not open a single letter. I feel like she would consider it rude even with permission.