Thursday Night 7/23d

My Dear Sweetheart,

Dr. White and I just returned from the station. We went down with Mr. and Mrs. Garrison to see them off, after having had dinner with them. They seemed to have enjoyed the day here and she wished that they could have spent a week. They took the sight-seeing bus to St. Augustine this morning. Her folks live at Waco Texas. During the war she went to Washington on a job in the War Dept, and there she met her hubby.

July 23, 1925 (Walter)

Sometimes I feel that I would like a better income in order to take care of you as I should, and I wonder how this couple get along on his salary as she is not working. He gets about $1400* and I hardly know how they can get along, but they seem to make it OK. When I see them I figure that we will probably get along all right.

We are going fishing Saturday and Dr. KS will drive down the state some on Sunday, so it is possible that I will not have an opportunity to write you Sat or Sunday nights. If I can I certainly will, for I enjoy your letters so much. I look forward to them and when they come I read them several times. While it seems like a long time since I came here, it has been only two weeks tonight. I have been very fortunate to have gotten so many sweet letters from you in that time. Best of all, I have had one from Mother and Daddy Lewis with their consent, and Dear you don’t know how glad I am and how proud I am to have them feel all right about it. It means a lot and I appreciate it. They were real sweet about it, and I guess it is because they know that you and I are congenial and that we really do love one another. I’ll be mighty proud to say “this is my wife,” and I feel that folks will think “how did he do it?”

We went to the city dispensary this afternoon as it was Dr. KS’s afternoon for a skin disease clinic. It was very interesting. There were about four well defined cases of pellagra, and I am glad that I had the opportunity of seeing some. When I see the disease side of medicine and what the practitioner has to do, I feel that I like my work more. At one time I thought I would like to practice medicine but the older I get, the more I like my work in preventive work and medical entomology. Dr. White says that he feels that way about it too.

We will not go to the beach until Tuesday and then we may not get located so as to move on that day. It may be Wednesday before we move. I’ll be glad to get Dr. White started on some laboratory work as I want to get his technique on some phases. He has been criticizing the paper, but it will be published in long form. Dr. KS thinks that it was not necessary, but White is so “dog gone” particular about every sentence that he is going over it very carefully. His arrangement is good but not very different from mine, and sometimes I wonder if his editing is worth the additional work it gives both of us. He is an old bachelor and has some set ideas on doing things. He always treats a disease manuscript in the same say. Even when we go to meals he always likes to go the same way. I hope I won’t be that way to such an extent, for it would annoy you. I’ll try not, Dear, and I’ll try to have you know that I love you with all my heart. You are everything to me and I’ll be mighty happy when I can have you with me always.

With a sweet goodnight,

Your
Walter.

P.S.
I love you.

* Equal to about $18,077 today.