Love letters from Grandpa-- part 3
Grandma, a few years before these letters were written.
Cpl. Bob Wasteney
Mar. Det
USS Boxer CV-21
c/o FPO
San Francisco
Joyce Farides
461 A Buena Vista
Alameda, California
1.
Wed. Nov. 2, 1949
Pearl Harbor
Joyce Darling,
Well I feel a little better today than I did yesterday. Boy what a lulu we pulled. Never again. We had a lot of fun though. I don't even remember what I wrote to you in that letter. I did write you a letter didn't I?
I got your letter today after much clowning with the mail orderly. At mail call he said I didn't get any mail and I kept insisting I must have. So after I took his word for it he finally gave me my letter.1
I'm glad to hear you're having such warm weather. You know what I did all day today. We went out to Waikiki Beach and went swimming, then loafed in the sun all day. It's so hot here that we just sleep on the tops of our racks in scivvies. No blankets or nothing. You can't even stand a sheet over you.
We went to the Waikiki Theater the other night. Joe knows some Warrant officer's daughter over here on the base so she got a girlfriend and we all went and saw "Look For the Silver Lining"2 Believe it or not sugar that's the first time I've gone out with anyone else since I met you. I had to come clear to Hawaii to do it. They were both blondes. Sun bleached blondes that is. And it wasn't my fault because I didn't even see them till we picked them up to go to the show.
That Waikiki is really a nice theater. All seats are reserved so if you want to go you have to phone for a reservation first.
2.
We'll be pulling out of here in 5 more days for the States. We'll hit Diego for about 3 days and then Alameda. Damn honey, it seems like years since I've seen you. No kidding, this seems like the longest I've ever been away. I'll feel like a war veteran coming back after about 5 years overseas.
I'll tell you what I want when I get back on the 18th. The first night back I just want to sit and look at you. So please don't plan on going out, have the icebox full of beer, drive all of the outsiders away, soft music on the radio, you can put on something comfortable (but feminine) with a dash of perfume, soft lights, and after I'm in lock the door and throw away the key. Damn with all that I could die a happy man. Do you think it can be so arranged?
I dream of things like that all the time.
We've been taking a mess of pictures over here. We got some of them back Friday so I'll stick a couple in this letter3 and bring the rest back with me after we get them
Well sweetheart I've got to close for now and work on some gear. Write soon and often and remember I love you and miss you.
I'll love you always
Bob
PS. If you ever type me another letter sugar please remember to push down the Capital key when you say I
I love you-- not i love you.4
1No further mention is made of it, but we can only assume it was the much-anticipated response declaring that she would marry him.
2 Looks pretty forgettable, to be honest.
3 Alas, no photos were to be found in the envelope.
4 *hysterical laughter* I can't tell whether I'm more pleased imagining the indignant rage that would have suffused my fiery grandma's face (yeah, I get *that* from somewhere too!) or knowing how much I take after my grandpa, both in our pedantry and our sense of humour. Except *I* would have written "If you ever type me another letter...don't." Who wants a _typewritten_ letter?
previously: Nov. 1: This is driving me bats
next: Nov. 4: I drove and Joe handled the baseball bat.