“My Dearest Love,

  As I write this letter, your lovely yellow roses are right by my side and their fragrance fills the room. Darling there is nothing that you could have thought of that would have pleased me as much as yellow roses. They seem to belong to us and I am delighted that you remembered. Oh darling you have not been out of my thoughts for one minute today. Even at Nells you were uppermost in my thoughts. The girls asked about you and sent their best wishes. Madeline Lettch particularly and Jean Gardner. Madeline took your address and says she intends to write you. I hope that she will. Darling your beautiful flowers have made me very happy. Oh Bill I wish for the first time in my life that I was a poetess so I could express to you properly how very dearly I love you. My whole life revolves about you. You and you alone are absolutely essential to my happiness. All the things I do here are in preparation for your return. My daily life is a marking of time until I am again in your dear arms.

Today has been rainy and much cooler but I have not minded the gloomy weather so much because of your letters and the flowers. Really darling the flowers bring tears to my eyes. I remember so well when you used to bring a yellow rose and put it in a vase in our room. Strange how little things are so very dear to one isn’t it? It rained at least one night on our Wedding Trip, the night we went into Harrisburg for dinner. Remember? I can picture the room at the hotel. The dining room and the Bradshaws sending the champagne to us. All the events of that night are clear as a bell in my mind. Dear intimate things that stay in one’s mind forever. Thank God that they are all beautiful things. There is nothing to mar the beauty of that night to my mind. I would not have had you be any different than you were. Oh darling I love you- love you- love you. I can even remember the little bottle of perfume that you found as we walked from the car into the hotel. I can remember waking in the night and the feeling of joy in finding you there beside me. I live but for your return and the joy of other such nights. I think that as long as I live I will always be thrilled to find you by my side.

Now my love I will try and answer the grand letters that I received today. You mentioned the fall of Sicily. I too wish it was the fall of Germany. I am wondering tonight just where you are. This new A.P.O. has me guessing. God grant it is not nearer the fighting. You mention sending things. Darling, do give me some idea of things you need or would like for a box at Christmas. We are only permitted to send things from Sept. 15 to Oct. 15 so I will have to be giving some thought to the matter. I have some ideas of my own naturally but I would like to include things that you need. You certainly should have the first copy of Readers Digest that I sent you. Doris Nash has them for over a year and told me today that she would love to send them over for you to use as you see fit. I am going to make an inquiry at the Red Cross to see if there is any way I send them other than as separate copies. Your subscription is as I have told you in at the Star. Do let me know when you receive the first ones. No Love the censors have cut nothing from your letters. I am glad that you have seen the place mentioned, but oh darling do be careful. Remember you are my world. I can’t imagine why you have not had the letters from Bertha and Saunders. Bertha has I believe written twice. I think it was back in July. It seems ages ago now. Speaking of the fall of Sicily, I just listened to the news of the invasion of Italy. According to the papers all is going well. That does not consider all the causalities that are necessary for such an operation. My heart aches when I think of the whole thing.

Now for the letter of the 19th. You ask if I love you and want you back. My darling that is a question you already know the answer to. One thing you need never doubt my sweet is my love. I love you more than life. Our little porch has been delightful. I have watched the Big Dipper from there many nights and thought of my love. I did not do a lot of dressing up. I painted the metal chairs cream and green and they look very well. I simple could not get covers for the glider cushions. There are none to be had so I just cleaned it up a bit. I also painted the little tables that were out there and that freshened them up a lot. It looks nice but the glider cushions would be a great help. Maybe they will be available next year. The beans are out. I have a few zinnias alone there but they got a blight in them when I was at Rehoboth. It looks like the leaves are mildewed. Sweet I mentioned the basement in another letter which I guess you have not received yet. It has been fine since I got the windows opened and cross ventilation keeps it dry and nice. Of course we have had a very dry summer. It has broken all records for heat and drought. This is the first rainy day since sometime in June so you know how badly it is needed. Now darling you mention the house. I am beginning to be really concerned over it. I had hoped you would have had one of my letters about it by now. Smith has done absolutely nothing so far. I told you I went to see Mr. Calnan and he said he would rent rather than let it be vacant this winter. Well school opens on the 17th for me and I wish it would be settled by then. He said we could rent on a monthly basis and should get anywhere from $75 to $100 a month for the place.

I told you of the bonds in another letter. I can’t recall exactly right now as they are all in the safe-deposit box at the bank. I will let you know later. I also told you about the Hendricksons note. They did not make a payment when they asked you about it. I am going to call her this week and see if she is home from the mountains and have lunch with her. The Red Cross deposits are still $65.50 and I explained them in another letter. Bank deposits are as follows. Liberty $497.76 and McLachlen $837.16. Now the taxes for the farm will have to be paid before October if it is not sold. They are $56.89. Then there are taxes here which are $275.05. Of course my checks will soon be coming in again. I got a statement from the school today and the estimated withholding to be taken from my salary beginning Sept. will be 39.50. That is quite a tax to my way of thinking. Love that little gift you mention is absolutely perfect. Yellow roses with all their rich golden beauty are indeed symbolic of the love we bear one another and the rich beautiful years we have had together. I think it would be grand to go back to Hershey on a little visit – just you and I as we did on that very happy day five years ago. God grant that we may do it soon.

Oh darling I had hoped the raids were about over in that area. If they keep that up I will certainly call for you to come home to me. Remember again you are my whole world – I love you with all my heart.

You mention in the letter of the 24th that you sent me a new address well I have not received it yet. I got it first in this letter of the 24th. There is a gap from the 19th to the 24th. Sweet you have stopped numbering your letters. Was there a reason or did you just forget?

Darling I have so far been able to get gas and the am taken care of at the usual place. He has been very nice and always asks for you. I will be very careful of the car sweet and see that it is well greased and the oil changed and all the usual service things done. I have never received the letter about getting in touch with Mr. Nolan but I will. I planned to when the road was mentioned again but Mr. Martin said you had talked to Mr. Nolan and knew the route this road would take. That you talked to him and they decided to follow a route that comes in near the colored school though your suggestion was a better one. I will take care of this immediately. It will probably be Tues. before I can see him as Monday is Labor Day and some people have a vacation then. Well darling I meant this to be strictly a love letter but then I saw you had several questions and would want an answer to them so I have gotten off the original subject.

My darling I am going to mail this letter and then early to bed and I hope to delightful dreams of you and the happy years we have had together. My darling I hope the stars are especially beautiful where you are tonight as they carry a special message of love to my dar husband. Bill I love you more than all the world. I am sending you a few rose petals from the lovely yellow roses. Their fragrance will be gone but they bring a message of love to you too. Good night my dear and I wish with all my heart that I could lie as I did in your arms five years ago. I send you my heart in a yellow rose petal.

All my love. Your, Ramona