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December 24th, 1952 — It’s Christmas Eve in Kankakee, Illinois, and Joyce is writing from the depths of exhaustion, love, and heartache. Home for the holidays, she finds herself tending to a sick mother and a failing stepfather, Uncle Marcus — a man too proud, too stubborn, and too unclean for her patience or her mother’s frailty. Joyce’s letter paints an unflinching picture of mid-century domestic labor: scrubbing floors and bathroom registers with steel wool, scouring powder, and soap just to keep the house livable.

Her humor flickers through the heartache. She jokes that everyone’s waiting for Uncle Marcus to die, that her “slooty shoulders” might scandalize the engagement announcement, and that a 17-year-old sailor down the street has a crush on her. Yet beneath the wit is deep compassion — her love for her mother, her worry about the operation she refuses, and her quiet yearning for Earl, whose absence leaves her “90% lonely.”

Joyce dreams aloud about their wedding — maybe small, maybe delayed — and shares her gifts: a silver chest full of Queen Bess silverware, towels with fuzzy flowers, and a 280-pound hog from her stepbrother. Even through the fatigue of caretaking and longing, her Christmas spirit shines in her closing wish: to be in Earl’s arms, pestering him while he reads the paper, feeling life return to ordinary joy.

Topics Include:

• Christmas Eve in Kankakee
• Caring for a sick mother and elderly stepfather
• Domestic burden and postwar caretaking
• Scrubbing and cleaning rituals
• Health worries and aging
• Dreams of marriage and practicality
• The engagement photo and modesty
• Family gifts: silver chest, towels, and a Christmas hog
• Loneliness, love, and longing for Earl
• Neighborhood flirtations and small-town life
• The slow pace of mail and postwar communication delays

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December 18th, 1952 — Joyce writes late at night from Kankakee, Illinois, balancing exhaustion, work, and homesickness as Christmas approaches. She’s working long shifts at the post office, sorting letters by state, city, street, and block — monotonous, finger-numbing labor she calls “a great big pain in the neck.” The money is helpful, but she misses practicing piano, visiting friends, and simply enjoying being home.

Her mother is ill with a bad cold, her stepfather as difficult as ever, and her sister Ina still finding trouble with men. Amid the chaos, Joyce finds solace in small things — trimming the tree, choosing slippers for her mother, knitting Earl’s socks, and writing to him by lamplight. She muses about family history, discovering her late father had once been a Mason, and reflects on how strange home feels after time away.

Even while she grumbles about sorting mail and her aching back, her humor shines through: she jokes about “bare shoulders” in the engagement announcement and laments running out of the yellow-and-navy yarn for Earl’s socks. It’s a portrait of mid-century womanhood at its most tender and resilient — juggling work, family duty, and love across hundreds of miles.

Topics Include:

• Working temporary holiday shifts at the Kankakee post office
• Sorting mail and the monotony of repetitive labor
• Mother’s illness and family responsibilities
• Planning Christmas shopping and gifts
• Learning her late father was a Mason
• Family tension with stepfather and sister’s relationships
• Missing Earl and Denver during Christmas
• Knitting progress on Earl’s socks
• Worry about yarn colors running out
• Reflecting on engagement announcement and modesty norms
• Practicing piano and preparing music pieces

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This episode was one of the harder letters to read and place into the world. There is an example of Hate ( Blue Square) in this episode, due to that fact the publish date was pushed past the holiday season and into the New Year. We're not hiding from the hate we expose, but I'm sure not publishing it during the holy season. December 15th, 1952 — Joyce writes from Kankakee, Illinois, still home for Christmas break and sending her airmail letters back west to Denver. She’s surrounded by family, gossip, and domestic dramas — her sister Ina’s birthday slipped her mind, her sister Cleone is clashing with her future mother-in-law, and her stepfather is offering “gifts” that come with strings attached.

Joyce fills Earl in on every detail: the new apartment Cleone and Ray are furnishing, the meddling mother-in-law who lost her house and blames “everyone different,” and her own mother’s declining health — the letter shifts from biting humor to quiet worry as she describes her mother’s serious condition and the strain of caring for her.

Even amid family tension, Joyce’s warmth and wit shine through. She talks of knitting Earl’s second sock, wanting to play organ for Christmas Eve services, and dreaming of Denver — her true home now. She closes the letter missing him fiercely, trying not to feel lonely, and signing off with the tender familiarity of a woman who’s already halfway between her old life and the new one she’s building with him.

Topics Include:

• Writing from Kankakee during Christmas break
• Family drama: Cleone’s meddling mother-in-law and home tension
• Sister Ina’s forgotten birthday
• Stepfather’s manipulative “money with conditions” offers
• Mother’s serious health concerns and medical details
• Knitting Earl’s second sock
• Plans to play organ for Christmas Eve services
• Thoughts on heaven, faith, and family hardship
• Discussing wedding plans for Cleone and Ray
• Reflections on loneliness and longing for Earl
• Reading and favorite authors (Lloyd C. Douglas, The Great Fisherman)

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