4th of July 1953: Kath Five

Dearest Father,
I am now embarking on another adventure! I shall be going to Deep Creek Lake in Maryland with a bunch of other adventurers. How did this come to be? I shall tell you.

I was attending Betty’s 4th of July Party on Saturday. She is such a lovely hostess. We were a little late but she didn’t mind. Jake made himself very useful on the grill. Our hostess greatly admired him for that. She looked at me and said, “He really knows his way around a greasy surface, no wonder he’s your husband.” What a charming gal!

Now, as I have told you, Diane has a twin brother, just like I used to have before that unpleasant accident. His name is Polly. He was going to perform on a stage set up in the backyard. I was standing next to Joan since we both have children of similar ages, Georgie and Davey. Joan usually only socializes with Shirley. Both of them are so stoic. However, I was lucky enough to talk to Joan. Now, I had heard that she is former president Harry S. Truman’s goddaughter, so I tried to make conversation with her about that. But she said she despises Truman. I told her that Mother is a third cousin of Richard Nixon’s mother; and while I don’t agree with Nixon politically, I do think that’s a nifty fact; and if the vice president wanted to visit now that we live within driving distance, I would be happy to entertain him. She said only “if,” an odd statement. I added that I am proud of Mother’s strong pacifism and feminism, and I have always tried to keep to it, as I go into many warzones and meet many women such as Joan. In fact Mother and I are great friends who can say so much to each other with so little. (I do hope you tell mother I said all this.) I was trying to tell her Mother is also descended from Abigail Adams, when it started to pour rain. What a bother!

After we came inside, Dr. Engelbert had some good news for us. Of course, you remember that neighbor, but in case you have forgotten I met him at the Liberation of Mauthausen, when I took his picture. That picture on display in your guest bathroom. So you’ll know what he looks like: wild white hair, eye patch over his right eye, haunted look in his left eye; a handsome chap, though not as handsome as Jake, though he is about as tall, at five-foot-eleven.

Anyway, he told us he is planning a self-improvement seminar! Everyone was most excited about this, though Martha had her reservations, she came around to it in the end.

So on July 10th we are heading out. Imagine that! Twelve women, together in an old girls camp, having fun and learning about ourselves, plus Dr. Johan Engelbert and me, along for the ride. Won’t that be grand!

Georgie had a good time at the clown show. He keeps repeating the clown’s catchphrase “I KNOW NOTHING!” and Gamze is now repeating it too, though Jake doesn’t like that. I did enjoy my time in the basement, but I wish I could have seen Polly perform.

As for the other children, the [Ten]s’ daughter, Linda, really loves to hear Jake’s stories. I think she has a crush. I have been telling Jake that he should write a memoir. And I told him at the party that with my month in the country, he’ll have time to start it. He isn’t sure it will be good but I said he just needs to get something down on paper, just any of his thoughts. I promised I wouldn’t look at it until he is quite finished. Still, I can’t wait. Anyway if he gets lonely, he has his pal Orion^[1] and also Smokey^[2] who I hope will not burn the house down. We can spend some time apart.

The sun came out and we all went swimming again. I beat Marge in many a race but Jake beat me. After that, it was cocktail hour. Don't worry, Jake did not partake, though Peggy beat us all to a drinking contest before the hour started.

Later, after we had dinner and the night sky was dark, we were going to see Betty do her gun show. She first started out talking about werewolves. Now, she says the werewolf she saw in the incident with her sister was a Eurasian werewolf. But if she saw her sister transform a week later when it wasn’t the full moon, I think that points to an American werewolf.

In any case, Marge brought fireworks and we all decided we would rather see that instead. After all, what is the Fourth of July without fireworks? We all ended up enjoying ourselves.

Though the people in our little cul de sac disagree on many things, I think we all agree that the United States is our beloved country, where we are all guaranteed the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness!

Now, I am perfectly fine and comfortable with staying home all day. I am doing magnificently. But I am not going to turn down an adventure! I hope to enjoy myself on this trip and will tell you all about it. I do hope I can see you at Thanksgiving.

Your beloved daughter,
Kath