December 1942

Home for the Holidays and Back to Boston, MA
Shortly after arriving in Boston Dad was able to secure a short pass and came home for Christmas. Dad divided his limited time home between his family and his girl "Blondie".  Dad had pictures taken with his Mom, his youngest brother Eddie, his sister Mae and "his favorite niece" Lynda during his short time at home.*

*After arriving overseas, Dad waited impatiently to receive copies of these family photos.
 

Dad with his Mother Anna and Brother Eddie	Dad with Niece Lynda

December 28, 1942

Immediately after arriving back in Boston on December 28th, Dad wrote a letter to his sister Mae. Although he was tired and said that "me and my bed are to be buddies again", he wanted to express how happy he was to make it back home to see his family. He went on to say:

While I was home, I thought of how everyone seemed to go out of their way...to see that my stay at home was pleasant...It was also a sacrifice for Milton [Mae's husband] to travel around like he did...with gasoline being so hard to get..*.

*On November 26, 1942, President Franklin D. Roosevelt ordered nationwide gasoline rationing effective December 1, 1942.

Dad also was interested in what Mae thought of "Blondie", the girl he met while on leave from Newport, RI in August 1942 and who he also introduced to his family during his short stay home. He asked Mae the following:

...Mae, frankly and no lying now, don't you think Blondie's nice? Man, I do! She's the only girl that even got me to think of settling down. So she must be nice...Hoped you liked her. She's one of the most decent girls I've ever gone with...

Before closing his letter Dad also mentioned that his "Crew" [LCI (L) 229] gathered around him while he was writing the letter. The crew thought that he was writing to his girl friend and started singing "I've got it bad and that ain't good" and "We'll miss you". Dad jokingly wrote "What a crew of swab jockeys".