November 11, 1961 Making A Day of It, Wondering About Thanksgiving, Kind of A Busy Week, Coke & Doughnuts and Better Dead Than Red?

Dear Mother & Daddy,

"It feels like spring outside but is cloudy & rain is predicted so that will start the cold all over again.  We never did get the holes filled in the yard and need to do more raking but I don't know when it will get done.

Today is visiting day at school.  All the high school seniors come in to look over the college & make a day of it.  I don't know how many they expect but B will be there most of the day.

Ann stayed with a friend last night & probably won't be home till noon.  Bob is never very noisy so it is quiet around here.

I have been wondering if there would be any way all of Beulah's family could come Thanksgiving?  It would be so nice if all of us could be together.  I don't know whether or how they would manage their cows & I wouldn't beg them but I wish they could come.

I haven't heard any more from Buddy but I wrote to them & I know they'll come.  Did you write and tell them when you're coming or have you decided?

Bob was just invited to go to a ball game so I will be alone.  Today won't seem like Saturday.

I think B's mother & Horace are going to meet B in Springfield & have supper with him.  That will be the only free time he'll have.

Ann likes her hair short because she can comb it herself.  The girl didn't cut it as short as we wanted & that was disappointing but we'll have it cut again one of these days.

This has been kind of a busy week.  We had a group of students Wed. night so I had to get ready for them.  The Y.W.C.A. sponsors conversation groups in faculty homes twice a semester.  They select a topic to discuss & anyone can come.  You never know how many will come.  They talked about this question of "Better Dead Than Red?" this time.  I had coke & doughnuts for them.  Then most of them wanted coffee so we'll still have cokes when you get here.

Hope you both are fine."

                      Lots of love,

                               Bonnie

NOTE:  Both phrases, "Better dead than red" and "Better red than dead" were common in Cold War era discussions of anti-communist sentiment and nuclear disarmament.