278: In his letters . . .
Herb ’n’ Lorna, Chapter 6 continues
In his letters to Lorna from the hospital, Herb began to devote more space to matters other than business, including personal matters:
A lot of the other guys complain about the food, but I’ve had worse. We generally have boiled potatoes and onions, and sometimes we have rice or stew. Breakfast might be just crackers and coffee, but it wasn’t many years ago that I didn’t have any breakfast. Lots of times, when I went to school, for lunch I would just take a potato. Sometimes I’d have an onion sandwich, which didn’t make me too popular with the other kids! I used to sell papers on the street and also a thing that my buddies and I called rat pie. We got these pies at a bakery so we could sell them, and we used to joke that they were made of rat meat. I think all of us thought it was probably true. If a rat pie got wet in the rain or if somebody dropped one on the pavement, I’d take it home, and we’d have that for dinner. Many nights we’d have just potatoes. So I don’t mind this food at all. In fact, sometimes when we have just bread and onions I make an onion sandwich and it reminds me of home. The truth is, I like onion sandwiches. . . . I’m glad that the books are arriving on time. I’d be pleased if you would continue to write to me to let me know how things are going, if it isn’t too much trouble.
One of Herb’s letters to his mother was much like another, and they all included something like this:
So, you mustn’t worry about me, because, as I said, I’m all right. My leg is healing just fine, and everyone says that I probably won’t walk with a limp or be able to predict rain. I’ve arranged to have some money sent to Uncle Ben for you. I don’t need any money where I am, so don’t you worry about taking it.
One of his letters to Ben was much like another, and they all ended in the manner of this one:
I’ve had a good week — prices are climbing. Please give Mother an extra twelve dollars. I know you’re keeping track of everything you give her, and you can rest assured that I will be able to pay all of it back and then some.
In one, however, he had a couple of interesting questions to ask:
Here’s a funny thing. Some of the fellows here have been buying “special” carved buttons for their uniforms. Where do you suppose they’re buying them? Do you think we have competition? Some of the fellows say they heard that sometimes special carvings — not buttons, but very special carvings — come in packages from the Red Cross, but I don’t think that could be right, do you?
[to be continued on Friday, June 10, 2022]
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In Topical Guide 278, Mark Dorset considers Food: Onion Sandwiches from this episode.
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