1212 S. Atlantic Blvd.
Alhambra, Calif.
Nov 6, 1942
Dear Stanley:
This will find you, I suppose, away off in Texas. Your mother wrote me that you were way there, and I am hoping that all is well with you and that this will reach you safely. When you are settled and have a few minutes to spare, perhaps you will send me a card with your new address. I imagine your new life is a very busy one and so I shall be happy with just a card until some time when you have time for a letter.
Your mother wrote me as soon as she heard from you on your way through the city and I thought it was lovely of her to do that for me. I intend to send this at once, but the pictures were not finished until yesterday afternoon and I wished to send them at the same time. The earlier part of the day I spent in planting King Alfred bulbs; this took some time since I remembered you had instructed that they be covered four inches deep; notwithstanding our two rainy nights, the ground was a little difficult to work. I am anticipating their golden beauty in the springtime with the sun shining on them; I have them in a row in front of the house; some time I will have a picture of them for you unless you come to see them yourself.
I think the "snaps" we took on Oct. 29 are very good, and I shall have a duplicate set printed for your mother. Perhaps I will send one or two to Miss Brode too.
We had a pleasant time on Sunday, when we had a birthday dinner for Carol. Edward and Mary, Prescott and Helen, were with us. Helen decorated the cake in Hallowe'en colors as Carol's birthday was really on Oct. 31. We always like to celebrate our birthdays at home because after the cake and its candles and wishes have all been enjoyed, the gifts are brought in and the birthday cards passed around, with everyone admiring the gifts given by all the others.
I wish to thank you again, Stanley, for entertaining me at dinner that day; I enjoyed it very much and especially appreciate your wanting to do it for me. Although it was the day on which you had come to say good-bye just before your going away into your Great Adventure, the spirit of it was so lovely that I shall always enjoy the memory of those pleasant hours. Thanks too for the generous gift of bulbs; I shall indeed think of you when they grow up next spring and every time I go out to take care of them as they begin to appear above the ground. I imagine that you will, after a while, have some time off from your training and will be coming home; when you do, you may perhaps have time to come out to Alhambra to see the daffodils and tulips.
I have asked Mrs. Keyes to repeat the lines that she said to you on parting:
I said to the man who stood at the gate of the years:
"Give me light that I may tread safely into the unknown."
And he replied: "Go out into the darkness and put your hand
Into the hand of God, and that shall be better than light
And safer than any known way."
I wish I might write you a wonderful letter, Stanley, but somehow I cannot today. Memories of your fine friendship and thoughts of many of my former pupils who are probably serving in many places in the world come to bring thoughts more than words. Best wishes and hopes for you, Stanley, in this new world in which you find yourself so suddenly placed; we shall be thinking of you often. If you wish to send any of the pictures to your friends, it will be all right to do so.
You can imagine me trying to write a letter with that fluffy 'yaller' cat dashing at me every few minutes, -typewriter keys, papers, and pictures proving irresistibly attractive to him. Faithfully yours,
Evelyn Mosher
(some research helped determine that this Evelyn Mosher is the same as the one in the
Atchley family tree found on Ancestry.com - http://trees.ancestry.com/tree/23267575/person/12462675637/comments?pg=32768&pgpl=pid
and in the
Johnson family tree found on Ancestry.com - http://trees.ancestry.com/tree/20950423/person/1005177424?ssrc=
Two more family trees on Ancestry.com but no sources)
Between Nov. 1942 and Aug. 1945, Stanley W Safford wrote around 180 letters to his mother. These were found neatly preserved in the order they were received, in his old bedroom at his parents'. They were wrapped with a green ribbon. Stanley was one of the first Army medics. He spent 19 months at Fort Sam Houston, TX training other medics. His group was attached to the Ninth Army in the Summer of 1944. His letters give a front row seat to a medic's life during WWII.
