This is the last readings of Lil and Bob's diary. I am doing separate diary reading posts for this last reading since we are reading out the month of December. This diary shown above Lil wrote each day for five years.
Last weeks diary reading we left with storm damage all over their surrounding area.
Now starting this weeks reading to the end of December.
Friday, December 10, 1943. Fine day - Done some cleaning up of debray after yesterdays storms-
Saturday, December 11. Cold day - Cleaned up house a bit = Bob home - 1-30 - Up town to shop.
Sunday, December 12. Fine - Bob up for a chronicle - spent day reading & resting.
Monday - Sick
Tuesday - Sick
Wednesday, December 15. Very cold - Bob went to work. I am up & able to keep going.
Thursday, December 16. Cloudy & some warmer. Busy with Xmas cards & up Town to shop with - Bob - Plenty tired.
Friday, December 17. Cloudy but no rain - made Jello & boiled piece of ham - Bob home at 1-30.
Saturday, December 18. Cloudy. Sprinkle of rain Done up Xmas parcels all the a.m. Bob up Town to shop Emma called -
Sunday, December 19. Cloud & light rain Bob up for Chronicle - Reading & resting.
Monday, December 20. 1 1/4 inches of rain last night = Fair today - Bob had hair cut x Ruth & Judy home with us. (for some reason she starts drawing = off and on, normally it is always - )
Tuesday, December 21. Fairly nice day - Baked a fruit - - Cake - Bob home from work feeling sort of punk, me too.
Wednesday, December 22. Nice Day. Al Chisbee in bed with Flue + Lena & Nancy in with Xmas gift - Richard & Marion here in Eve -
Thursday, December 23. Nice Day - Done some cleaning - Bob done the shopping - Ruth in to show Judy's dolls wardrobe - Jack as Santa
Friday, December 24. Showers in A.M. over to Emmas & to see Nancy Lee's xmas Tree - all Tired out = Xmas Eve & Jack F is Santa at Marjories.
Saturday, December 25. Xmas. Again we celebrate the Birth of Our Savior. to Larkspur, children all there & what a feast = Home 6- P.M.
Sunday, December 26. Fine day - Nice day of rest & Reading.
Monday, December 27. Cold gloomy day - Bob at Sonoma Till 1-30 Emma called for a short visit- (remember long ago, "called" is in person)
Tuesday, December 28. Cold & wet most of the day wrote Helen. Called on Emma - Ruth & Judy to see Xmas gifts Bob up Town to shop
Wednesday, December 29. Nice but partly cloudy - rain this Eve -
Thursday, December 30. Rain all forenoon Bob & I up Town to Shop - Nice letter from Purley Scofield at San Jose - Cards - Elizabeth & Mr. W.
Friday, December 31. Cloudy all day, the weather in Mourning for the past year of death and destruction - Done the washing - hot dry -.
End of 1943 reading.
I have some information to share with you about Bob and Lil.
It was a bit difficult to tell that a world war was going on during the writings of her diary. Life seemed normal other than Bob would go up each day to the hotel watch tower to watch for war planes as his war duty even though he was in his seventies.
Lil was 75 years old when she wrote this diary in 1943. I actually have another diary of Lil's that was further back in time when she was younger and Bob and Lil lived on a farm and raised Chickens and sold eggs, lot's of eggs! This diary is during the great depression.
Her 1930s diary is mostly full of facts, with a lot of numbers such as 8 cases of eggs delivered to so and so, 6 cases of eggs, Bob fed greens to the chickens 9 cases of eggs and such as that. Occasionally she would write, children here - made cookies, or we ate green peas today but it was mostly facts about the farm and more of ledger entries. I did not even realize that this was the same Lil because when I got this diary it was so full of numbers I put it aside to read later and then one day I realized it was an earlier diary of Lil's.
I will not be posting this diary because it is mostly numbers and there are other diaries I have during the great depression.
A little more information.
Lil was married to a Daniel before Bob. Daniel was actually Bob's older brother. Daniel passed away in 1927 and leaving Lil as a widow she ended up staying with Daniels family where Bob also lived. This led to the marriage of Bob and Lil. Bob was 14 years younger than Daniel but one year older than Lil.
Helen and Richard were Lil's Children making Bob their step father. Ralph and Donald were grandchildren.
Daniel and Bob were from Canada and Lil and her family were from Pennsylvania and along their journeys during the mid 1800s to the early 1900's they ended up in California.
Bob and Lil died the same year only four months apart. The year of 1948.
This diary, that we have been reading the year of 1943 from, is a five year diary starting in 1942 and ending in 1946. A five year diary leaves little room to write and why her posts are so short. The last post of this diary, one year and 10 months before Lil died is read below.
Tuesday, December 31, 1946. Fine, but hard frost. Had a hair shampoo- Bob home 12-55 Mrs. S. over with soup Farewell to 1946.
It is a a bit emotional to leave this diary, even with only short daily writings but we still were a bit like neighbors to them reading along little things they did each day, and now we know more about them. These diaries become like family to some. It was their era, their time to live, both being born in the mid 1800s as were many of our Great Grandparents.
As simple as this diary of Lil and Bob was, is there anything that you learned from this diary of 1943?
*** We will be starting new diaries for the new study on January 2023. Grandma Donna
