American Ghost Roses

Found in a Shoe Box Labeled "Keep"

70 Found฀in฀a฀Shoe฀Box฀Labeled฀“Keep” 1. Herman฀Stein฀Writes฀Cpl.฀Everett฀Stein,฀U.S.฀Army ฀ 31฀August฀1918 You฀ascked฀that฀I฀may฀send฀you฀a฀few฀lines in฀my฀hand,฀son.฀I฀hope฀these฀will฀not฀try your฀head,฀my฀words฀worse฀mispelled than฀your฀last,฀you฀now฀three฀years฀out฀of฀skul. I฀will฀tell฀you฀we฀are฀allways฀glad฀to฀hear from฀you,฀and฀that฀most฀I฀leave฀this writing฀to฀mother,฀our฀secratary฀at฀home, and฀to฀sister฀Agnes,฀herself฀ten฀years฀out฀of฀skul. I฀never฀forget฀you฀anyday฀in฀my฀prayer. When฀I฀work฀my฀mums,฀they฀bloom white฀for฀you.฀All฀the฀times฀I฀was฀glad฀to฀hear a฀Soldeers฀life฀appeals฀to฀you.฀No฀mispelled lettur฀lessons฀your฀duty฀and฀the฀hardships I฀honor฀you฀for.฀I฀am฀also฀glad฀to฀lurn you฀are฀promoted฀to฀Corporal,฀and฀as฀you have฀wit฀and฀talent฀enough,฀you฀should฀try to฀bring฀it฀to฀Sargent.฀Not฀for฀better฀pay but฀for฀the฀honor฀also,฀and฀for฀the฀futur. Yours.฀I฀am฀sick฀with฀a฀bruced฀knee, and฀so฀when฀you฀ascked฀for฀a฀few฀lines 71 you฀get฀them฀from฀bed.฀My฀bumped฀knee has฀swollen฀and฀the฀doctor฀has฀bed฀rest and฀flaxseed฀poulters฀on฀it.฀No฀blood฀poisen or฀stiffness฀has฀come฀of฀it,฀but฀these฀lines have฀oshun฀and฀waves฀in฀them฀like฀those you฀crossed฀back฀over.฀I฀thought฀our฀family done฀with฀those฀cold฀waters,฀and฀with฀Germany. Shipped฀to฀France,฀your฀brother฀Joe฀will฀try to฀find฀Leo฀in฀all฀that฀mud.฀With฀Job฀we฀say: the฀Lord฀giveth,฀the฀Lord฀taketh฀away. If฀the฀Berlin฀train฀is฀not฀blown฀up,฀take฀the฀run to฀Salzbergen,฀where฀Aunt฀Trilling฀will฀spell your฀hardships฀with฀a฀kiss.฀These฀few฀lines asck฀God฀to฀bless฀you฀in฀field฀and฀trench.฀Oh,฀try not฀to฀shoot฀your฀cousens.฀Have฀I฀mispelled? You฀boys฀are฀but฀a฀few฀years฀out฀of฀skul. 72 2. Trilling฀Writes฀Her฀Brother฀Herman฀in฀America ฀ Salzbergen,฀Germany,฀14฀January฀1935 Dear฀brother,฀many฀say฀it฀could฀come฀to฀war฀again. The฀days฀dawn฀black฀as฀coal฀and฀hot฀with฀fire from฀throats฀of฀little฀brown฀men฀with฀hearts฀of฀tin. You฀know฀from฀your฀newspapers฀how฀things฀conspire to฀make฀days฀dawn฀black฀as฀coal฀and฀hot฀with฀fire. Many฀here฀are฀sickly฀because฀of฀unhealthy฀weather. You฀know฀from฀your฀newspapers฀how฀things฀conspire. It฀freezes฀for฀a฀couple฀days฀and฀we฀get฀better, though฀many฀here฀are฀sickly฀because฀of฀the฀weather. We฀haven’t฀had฀winter,฀no฀pink฀cheeks฀or฀snow. It฀freezes฀for฀a฀couple฀of฀days฀and฀we฀get฀better. No฀one฀starves฀much฀any฀more.฀Food฀grows฀under฀our฀toes. We฀haven’t฀had฀a฀winter,฀no฀pink฀cheeks฀or฀snow. Brother฀Gerhard฀says฀he฀eats฀enough฀but฀other฀things฀go฀bad. No฀one฀starves฀much฀any฀more.฀Food฀grows฀around฀our฀toes, for฀we’ve฀spiced฀soup฀with฀old฀shoe฀leather.฀Don’t฀gag. Brother฀Gerhard฀says฀he฀eats฀enough฀but฀other฀things฀go฀bad. Elizabeth฀Gronefeld฀suffered฀cancer฀of฀the฀hand฀and฀died just฀after฀dinner฀soup฀spiced฀with฀shoe฀leather.฀Don’t฀gag. In฀poverty฀she฀sickened฀so฀quick฀her฀finger฀fell฀off฀while฀she฀bathed. Did฀I฀write฀how฀Elizabeth฀had฀cancer,฀oh฀yes,฀and฀died? Her฀boys฀went฀down฀in฀the฀Great฀War.฀Our฀daughters฀married฀drunks. Elizabeth฀sickened฀so฀quick฀her฀finger฀fell฀off฀while฀she฀bathed. I’d฀like฀to฀send฀you฀new฀year฀blessings,฀but฀my฀heart’s฀sunk. 73 All฀the฀good฀boys฀died฀in฀the฀war.฀Our฀daughters฀married฀drunks who฀limp,฀smoke฀too฀much,฀and฀curse฀the฀mustard฀gas. I’d฀like฀to฀send฀you฀new฀year฀blessings,฀but฀my฀heart’s฀sunk. If฀you฀were฀here,฀your฀sister฀Trilling฀would฀crawl฀to฀Sunday฀Mass. Our฀streets฀fester฀with฀old฀soldiers฀who฀curse฀the฀mustard฀gas. My฀name฀in฀English,฀you฀say,฀is฀like฀a฀bird’s฀sappy฀song. If฀you฀were฀here,฀I฀would฀kneel฀all฀through฀Sunday฀Mass. “Trilling”฀is฀what฀birds฀do฀when฀they’re฀happy. My฀name฀in฀English฀sounds฀like฀a฀bird’s฀sappy฀song. You฀know฀from฀the฀newspapers฀how฀fire฀heats฀hearts฀of฀tin. “Trilling”฀is฀what฀birds฀do฀when฀they’re฀happy. Dear฀brother,฀many฀say฀it฀could฀come฀to฀war฀again. ...