Send us a text

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

Support the show

Send us a text

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)

Support the show

Send us a text

December 13–14, 1952 — Joyce’s letter home spans two days and two states, written partly from a jerky train bound for Illinois and partly from her family home in Kankakee. Traveling by airmail for the first time — double the postage at six cents — she’s headed home to her mother, stepfather, and sister Cleone, knitting a sock for Earl as the train rocks along. She jokes about taking off her stockings to be comfortable, washing off her makeup, and trying to nap between stations.

By the next day, she’s home and writing in green ink with her new pen — one of the gifts Earl sent her, along with perfume and sachet. The household is lively: Cleone and Ray are “necking on the Davenport,” Uncle Marcus is frail and irritable, and Joyce finds herself once again navigating her family’s moods. She compares engagement rings (hers, she notes proudly, is prettier), talks about wedding plans, and muses that perhaps Denver — not Kankakee — should be where she and Earl marry.

The letter closes tenderly but with a hint of exhaustion. Between family tension, travel fatigue, and reflections on how distant she already feels from home, Joyce dreams of returning to Denver — to her own life, her work, and the man she loves.

Topics Include:

• Traveling home to Illinois by train
• Writing with her new pen and green ink
• Knitting Earl’s socks on the train
• Family dynamics at home in Kankakee
• Uncle Marcus’s declining health
• Cleone and Ray’s engagement and apartment
• Comparing engagement rings
• Talking weddings and choosing Denver over Illinois
• Remembering family challenges and loyalty to her mother
• Planning future marriage and family life
• Recovering from cramps and travel fatigue

Support the show