Children -- France -- Correspondence; Children -- United States -- Correspondence
is the prettiest girl on earth al-rite. She was one of the folks what
let me give there dorenobs a extra polish, and she nos all about you
and now I have tole her about that Teddy, and she sez, I no just
how you feel about him Jimmy. It is a grate comfort to have someone
understand you if your family do not. And I askt her if she new enny
poitry in french I cood send you by way of conversashun, and she sez,
I remember just one, and here it is,
_"Je vous aime, je vous adore,
Que voulez vous done encore?"_
I thot that was kind of short but she sed if I sent this to you you
mite send that feler Teddy packin, but I guess you wont. I dont no
when I have had so much bad luck as I have had lately. Fust their was
the hoopincoff, then my blew legs, then I lost my firecrakers, and now
I guess I am going to lose you al-rite. I fergot to tell you their is
a new preecher hear called Herbit Hoover and he is a minister of
the gospel of the Clean Plate, and all us school boys have been
distributin little papers about it, the idee is, if you do not beleeve
in it you eat meat and wheat and everythin, and if you beleeve a
little you have meatless days and eat rye and no wheat, and if you get
the religion rele hard you lick your plate clean and eat pretty near
nothing at all. Ennyway nobody must eat sugar. Dad sez it is becaus
sugar has turned to dimonds, so we have sirup insted and it is pretty
good, the pancakes I was tellin you about was made with that. Mother
sez the sugar situashun is going to be rele bad. I hope their is some
left fer my birthday which is near Thanksgiving day. Say, you and I
come near bein twins do you no that? Just too weaks more and we wood
have been born together, only I wood have been your twin over here and
you wood have been my twin over there. Say woodnt that have been funny
though! Stranger things have happined though. It does seem sort of
strange to think those too weaks have made me your godfather and you
my godchild insted of us bein twins. I tole mother about it and she
sed she thot it was better the way it is. I have saved up 47 cents fer
your Christmas present I am not going to tell you what I wish you wood
do fer mine. I am going to see if you can guess it.
Your ever affeckshunate godfather,
James P. Jackson Jr.
18 rue d'Autancourt, Paris.
September 24, 1917.
My dear godfather:
I am afraid this letter can't be in my own style and handwriting this
time, for Mr. Teddy is here and I have asked him to help me with my
English, in exchange of my helping him with his French. My mind is
troubled and I think he can express my thought, so he has taken the
pen in hand, and I, sitting on a little stool at his feet, and gazing
up at him, try to make him understand what is in my mind.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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