The only letters from this week were dated July 1; there are no others until July 15, so this is a short post. At the end of this post are some notes on Ruth’s friend, Loretta Sosville.
July 1, 1935
349-A Madison Avenue
Albany, N.Y.
Dear Dave,
I am writing this at home due to the fact that I was too sleepy to write last night and I couldn’t think of anything anyway. Not that I have anything to write yet, but at least I’m not in such a dense fog as I was last night. I slept good today and didn’t wake up until four o’clock.
When I got in last night I told Loretta about our parking place only I was laughing so it took nearly a half hour to tell it. She got a big kick out of it and said she would find her own parking places.
Did you get home o.k. or were you pretty sleepy? I bet you have been good and tired today. I went to bed on the delivery table and woke up at 5:30 and I was supposed to wake up at 4:30, but everything was o.k. because Miss Van Deusen didn’t get up until 6:30.
She asked me this morning if I had a nice time last night and I said, “Yeah, and it sure seemed good.”
I’m anxious to go to work tonight so I can see my new uniforms. I wonder if I’ll get as tired of them as I have of the gray. I remember how smart I felt when I started wearing my gray uniforms.
I hate to think of the future if I can’t get work. I know I can’t stand it to stay around here with nothing to do.
This is Loretta’s last night and I sure am going to miss her. The funny part of it is we weren’t even well acquainted when we went to school. The only thing we had in common was that neither one of us smoked and I guess we were about the only ones.
The new girl they are putting on tonight is more or less of a dead head and that’s about all we need up there to make night duty a nightmare.
They named the Goldberg baby Morris and the mother is all burned up because she wanted to call him David. I have named him “Baby Squeak” so I don’t have to call him Morris.
Ed is in town tonight so the girlfriend won’t be down after me before work. I haven’t seen Ed yet to jump him about waking me up.
I didn’t get any mail today so it looks like they plan to make me wait again. I wouldn’t mind if I wasn’t prompt myself about answering their letters, but I answer them just as soon as they come.
You no longer have to worry about sewing the button on my coat, as I took with an ambitious streak tonight and sewed on all the buttons if I thought they were in danger of coming off.
I seem to be straining for words, so I’ll be signing off.
Ruth
July 1, 1935
My dear girl,
I shouldn’t be writing this letter after you held out on me last week. I ought to wait until I hear from you before I write, but since this is a new month I’ll forget all about last month’s deficiencies and start with a clean bill. Now isn’t that big-hearted of me?
I hope you can make out this scrawl. I can’t seem to write even halfway decent tonight. It takes a strong arm to write with this pen anyway. It sure hates to give up the ink.
I suppose you are wondering if I fell asleep coming home. Well, I didn’t. I stopped on Delaware Avenue and had coffee and donuts and what coffee it was. It was so strong a rock would have floated in it, but it sure did the work. I tied up at the pier here exactly 1:50 by LaVere’s Ingersoll. I don’t know if that coffee is still working or not but I haven’t felt sleepy all day or yet tonight. Did I make a grand rush this morning though. Mother had to call me twice and when I came downstairs it was ten minutes of six. I looked at the sun and then the clock and had a feeling something was haywire, so I turned on the radio and it was 6:45. What a shock. I had a swell breakfast, one slice of toast and two swallows of coffee. Anyway, I was on the job before work started. It wouldn’t have made any difference if I had taken time to eat and been a little late, but I think I would rather be late for my own wedding than late for work.
It wasn’t quite so hot today and I got a break anyway and went to work inside of one of the buildings. It is a lot cooler inside.
We had the first accident on the job today. One fellow fell off from a roof. He fell on the handle of his hammer and it punctured his side breaking two ribs. The C.C.C. Ambulance took him to the hospital. I never knew of any big job yet where someone didn’t get hurt or killed before it was finished. It’s no wonder compensation insurance is compulsory.
Did you tell Loretta about the parking place? I have to laugh every time I think of it. Next time maybe you will be more particular about parking in people’s back yards.
I’m glad you got the chance to get out for a little while last night. I had a wonderful time, but then I always do when I’m with you.
Mother just called upstairs and said it was time I went to sleep. I always mind Mother so here goes till I see you Thursday as a graduate nurse.
Dave
Loretta Sosville married Edwin T. Collins (“Ed”) in 1937. Ed Collins was a widower whose wife, Dorothy Driscoll, had died in March 1933. They had one son, Richard, who would have been around 5 years old at the time these letters were written. Ed and Loretta lived in Albany at the time of their marriage, and had a son, Edwin in 1938, and later three other children, Elaine, Robert, and David. Edwin was ordained into the priesthood in 1966 (see below). Sometime around 1940, the family moved to the Buffalo, NY area. Mr. Collins passed away suddenly in March 1965. At the time of her death in 1994, Loretta had been married to Clarence Massing for 22 years. Sadly, her daughter Elaine (Collins) Seemueller died only a few months later at the age of 55.
Loretta Sosville
Tonawanda News, 13 May 1966