From August 17, 1976 through June 11, 1984 I collected 33 letters from
my dad.
The hand-written letters are all in CAPS and are difficult to
decipher. Some are typed, and others
typed using triple carbon copies so Al, Bill and I could each get a copy. Ever so frugal, Dad typed others on motel
stationary because the stationary was free in those days. I kept the letters because
I thought my dad was a bit of a character, and the letters were sometimes
corny, but mostly I kept them because I suspected his time was limited and
Dad’s descendants wouldn’t know him other than through my lies and
exaggerations.
Here is my dad’s last letter written June 11, 1984. This letter was
written just over a month before my son, John, was born and Dad was diagnosed
with a fatal brain cancer. It was only a
few months later that Dad died of that cancer. (September 29, 1984) Dad (Richard Francis Millen) was just short
of his 68th birthday on June 27 as of the letter listed below. John is about to be born and Ann is 2 yrs 8
months. I will type it exactly the way
he typed it – pretty clean typing for the typewriter era. Dad was having some serious cognitive and
motor issues from the cancer by July 23, but I can only speculate whether the
cancer had any impact on this letter.
Dad is clearly in a humorous mood, griping about having nothing to gripe
about.
I don’t recall him ever using an apostrophe when typing. It was probably too much bother.
June 11, 1984
Dear Tom and Jean and assorted little ones
wherever they may be:
We understand the
last few weeks of pregnancy are only enjoyable because they are almost
over. So reminding you of that is about
the most cheerful thought I have had in the last two days. One of those periods when you run out of
energy for very much of anything and it appears old age is gaining a lot faster
than you think it oughter. [sic] So you
want to buy a boat? [Our family had a boat for many years]
[Short section of CLEAN
humor deleted here as it might be misunderstood by readers.]
Anything for a
change of pace or a change of this peace that is boring me to the
ultimate. Guess it is time to look at
cemetery lots again. On top of that the
corn aint in.
Yup rain and cold so bad the air conditioner cant
even be checked out. We have the new
furnace in and must pay for it on the 18th. So we pay whether or not it can heat the
house or not as it is only been cold enough to have it on heat to bring it up
from 65 outside. Its been 55 to 65
outside so much that the airconditioner cant be given a real test as it only
goes up to 84 a couple of days since the 31st of May. My gosh there I am griping away and it is
only 11 days that we could check it out anyway.
It sure is a lot more May weather than June, infact May has been as cold as April most years.
Lets see about bad
conditions I can gripe about. Gladys is
so unsympathetic to this mood tha I cant even get an argument no matter what I
say. She just stands around and laughs
at all the great ideas. Tom, never marry
an even tempered woman. They will gripe
hell out of you by sailing by your moods with out even getting mad. Such poise and grace should be reserved to
the angels as it is damn annoying in a
human being who tolerates you better than you tolerate her. It puts you down as a miserable human being
when your ego cant stand such perfection in your spouse. So Jean throw a snit once in awhile so Tom
wont be weighed down by being married to the perfect woman like I have had to
contend with all these 39+ years. Of
course Tom will likely take his mothers side as she always deserves any credit
there is for staying married 39+ years.
We went to see a
Cubs game when they played Atlanta and sorry Tom the Cubs walloped the Braves
that day. Then went on up to Wawautosa
to see Phils and all his grandchildren Thur Friday and Sat. nights. Left Sunday as tired again from all the
activity. Karen and Nancy have their
kids in everything and the girls are in lots of things too. Along with those great husbands Pete and
Steve.
[penciled in, all
in caps, as always]
SO ALL WELL IF
UNHAPPY HERE IN C/R
Mom and Dad Millen
