12th April 1915

60^th letter (Monday)

 

My dearest Emma,

I did not received anything from you yesterday or today and it feels to me like it is a quite a long time. I am demanding, aren’t I? But do not force yourself to write to me more often than you would like.

It would be a great pleasure for me to tell you about what I am doing and where I am, but I am not able to. I willingly submitted to the requirements of the military authority, because I understand that it is necessary. There is too much information being given out about the movements of the troops and there are so many spies all over.

I hope that you have received, or rather that you continue to receive, my letters regularly. I write to you every day. I am always so happy to chat with you for a few minutes. I just looked at your picture. The more I look at it, the more I find that you look tired and sad.

Poor little Emma, you who love me so much, it must be sad for you too not having me there with you. Maybe one day we will have this joy again, God willing. Yes, the Lord is faithful, and he hears those who call upon Him in faith.

Oh! How sweet it is to trust in Him. This is very consoling and strengthening. How often I would have been discouraged if He had not supported me. Isn’t it the same for you? I often asked him to take care of you and bless you according to your needs. I have no doubt that He hears me.

Ah! This war is very sad. But maybe He sends these tests to awaken our recklessness. May all Christians benefit from this for their own eternal happiness.

We have seen what the world produces in the name of “progress.” He made it so that people can kill each other so as to satisfy their passions. The war is a result of disbelief.

Evil dominates good. While the servants of God preach about the love, peace and grace that He has given to every repentant sinner, the others have allowed hatred, selfishness and barbarism to fester in their hearts. The Holy Name of God is scorned. We do not worry about him, and yet it is only by His will that all things happen.

These tests make one think a lot about indifference, but many are reluctant to walk away from their old life and to be “born again” as the Lord said.

I believe that this will be of great benefit to all of them and that many people will return to the right path.

My dearest friend, I am healthy.

Last night, my feet were a little cold. We are in a ditch where there was water and the weather is not really hot. In short I had a very bad night.

During the day the sun came out a little but now it is 2:30 and it is overcast. Will it snow or will it rain?

In any case we are not on the front lines for much longer where we cannot make a fire. Hopefully we will soon go to the back to rest ourselves and bring some order to our personal belongings. It is not that it is not need, because I can tell you about my embarrassment that I have not changed my shirt for a very long time (March 19^th).

You can well believe that our belongings are not clean either. You would surely say that I am lazy and that you do not recognize me. Believe me it is not the need that is missing but it is just impossible to do otherwise.

 

I will leave you now and end by kissing you strongly anyways.

 

Many mimis for Georges and kiss your parents for me.

Your

Reymond

11th April, 1915

59^th letter 

My dearest Emma,

Today I did not received anything from you, but I was not expecting to. Yesterday I forgot to thank you for your flowers. They were very dark, alas, but I recognized what it was. I do not know the name, but I think that they were planted on the wall of the garden.

Today is Sunday, the day that should be dedicated to the Lord, but alas! in the army no attention is given to that and we have to work as if (nothing) was happening.

Very soon I will go to the battle front for 2 days. But I am not discouraged. It is possible that I will not be able to write to you during these two days so you will have a little break during which you will not receive anything. There are some families who have not received any news for 15 days now. I wonder why. So you see… you can be happy to receive something from me from time to time. Today I received a letter from Francillon. They are healthy.

I hope my letter finds you all in good health.

Through God’s grace I am doing well. My cold is completely gone and I am not coughing at all. Is your arm healed? Tell me about it. Goodbye darling.

Forgive me for not writing you a much longer letter.

 

I send you lots of hugs while kissing you very very strongly.

Your husband Reymond

 

I received your package and your letter. I told you about it in yesterday’s letter.

10th April, 1915

58^th letter 

My dear Emma,

I just received your package which contained a sausage, chocolate and then a box which I thought contained fig jam but which I discovered was in fact redcurrant jelly. That is excellent! This could not have come at a better time because I only had one chocolate bar left as I sometimes eat two or three bars per meal. But sometimes none at all, depending on what we have to eat. In general, the food is sufficient. Still the same, it is only when there is an accident that there is a bit less. But when the fat is cold is not good. So I am very grateful to you for your parcel.

At the same time I received your letter dated Monday, April 5^th. It is not numbered but it would be the 60^th one. I would just like to tell you how happy I was to see your photos. I know that it is impossible but it seemed to me like I was right there with you and that is a great source of happiness for me. For a long time I just kept giving it lots of mimis.

My dear Emma, you have lost quite some weight, you look very sad and defeated. Surely you have not been telling me the truth about your health. Oh! Please tell me the truth. As for our little Georges, he looks very healthy, alert, and he concentrated on looking at the camera. He has a nicely shaped suit (I mean cut). I recognize the piece of this outfit because you had sent me the sample. How did you get the pictures done? Are they all like this? I do not want to say that this is not enough, but it is not very big. It is true that it looks very cheap. Finally, I had the great, very great pleasure to analyze you. It feels to me like you are much nearer to me. I am going to look at you both more often. I am starting to run out of paper as it is quite a while since I have been to my trunk where I keep my reserve. Can you put a sheet of paper in one of your responses for me? Surely, before it gets to me I would have already been back where my trunk is because I do not think we can be left in this place much longer. The men would not be able to tolerate it. We will probably get relieved and then we will go to rest ourselves more on the back lines. It has always worked like that. Do not worry yourself about me. I repeat this to you in every letter, but I know you must be very concerned and even anxious sometimes. Yes, we only need God to encourage us and to help us to patiently bear these trials. Our confidence will not fail.

What can I tell you now? I don’t know. Nothing extraordinary happened recently in my life.

It is 10 o’clock in the morning. Part of the night it snowed with large flakes and in the morning too, but now it is not falling as heavy.

These last few days I have written to you every day. As long as I can, I will do so.

Give my regards to all our friends especially Mr. Delarbre.

Kiss your parents and our little Georges. I am going to leave you for today because I have to go to dig a ditch so that there can be communication with those on the frontline of the trenches. It is under wood so we can work there during the day. I am going to let my platoon replace another troop who works the morning regardless of the weather.

 

I cover you with kisses and send you a letter full of them.

Your husband Reymond

9th April 1915

57^th letter 

My beloved,

This morning I received a letter card and your 58^th and 59^th letters. I am very glad you finally received a card from me. Yes, darling, I understand that you must be very concerned, you who love me so much, I know. It is also the same for me. You cannot understand it, but because I love you, I want to know all the time that you are happy too so I try to write to you as often as I can. But I understand that you must think a lot about my situation. I ask you to trust the Lord fully, depend completely on Him. He can protect me in the middle of danger. You see, I am not allowing myself to grieve as much as you are. So far I have been able to bear everything thanks to God. You told me that you think that Lydia is happier than you. I would not really say that. I do not want to get hurt, because it is not easy to be evacuated from here. I can tell that you give yourself a lot of trouble over the photos. I will get them one of these days, because you will send them from Valence. It makes me happy to know that you will have Maurice again. He will help you out a little. These days it is very expensive, but you have to try your best to keep Viaugeas and the uncle. They will be very useful to you. I wanted to send you a postal order, but I have not yet been paid. This means that I will have quite some money. If I should go missing, you could claim it when you receive my death certificate.

It would indicate to you whether or not I had been paid. I am not on the front line today. We can make a fire, but the chimney of our hut is not working, so there will be none. It is still snowing.

 

I will end by kissing you very tenderly.

Lots of hugs,

From your Reymond

8th April, 1915

56^th letter 

 

My dear Emma,

Yesterday, April 7^th, I sent you a short letter card. I forget to put a number on it but it should have been number 55.

It is now two days that I have not received any new from you. I am not worrying myself too much because I know that you are not able to write to me every day, and to bring the letter to the post would be too much of a hustle for you. Besides, very often I tend to receive two letters at a time.

You told me in your last letter that you were proud of our Georges. Maybe you are starting to think that he is all yours!! Oh! I would be annoyed if when I get home you would say that to me! But I know in advance that you will not do that because you are so kind.

He should be babbling now, he must surely be adorable. Does he already know how to be polite to strangers?

He should not spend a lot of time inside the house, he must always move around outside. Is his wheelbarrow still in good shape? He must be having a lot of fun with it.

Dearest Emma, It is a long time now that you have not spoken to me about whether or not you had a lot of potatoes. Aren’t they too rotten? Does the water not get out from Jacques’ basement? I know that the water can get in via the door, but I wanted to know if the water that enters from the bottom has a way of getting out.

And what about the beechnuts? Did you get the external stable doors closed from behind? As for the wood, do you think that you will have enough for the whole summer? You did not tell me what happened to your Miraille.

Now the fields should be green again and soon the trees will grow. The countryside will become pretty again. My brother told me that the meadows and the corn were beautiful. On the land where the grapevines were is there now wheat everywhere? And were you able to sow the clover? The cabbage that I had planted there, have they already produced or are they still there? And those that are above the garden are they growing now? How much of it can be planted during the winter?

I am asking you so many things that I must be really annoying you.

Alas, my darling, I want so much to be near you. We will be together again one day if the Lord thinks that it is a good thing.

If He grants us this grace, what a great blessing it would be, added to so many others that He has already bestowed upon us. Indeed the Lord has given me much greater privileges. He has given me the health I need to support all these different kinds of fatigue. I receive news from you regularly and so many other things.

For a few days now we are still in the same place. Yesterday we had a really bad day because it rained all the time. My men were all wet. Today it looks like it will turn into snow. The rain had already melted the old snow and there was only a bit left at the top of the hills where the wind had carried it to. It is not too cold. I don’t know if I told you that I was in a position where I was facing a village. I can hear the bells and the clocks and with my binoculars I can see the time on the clock which is on the steeple. So I can check the time on my watch.

The service is not easy at night. It is dark in these pinewoods so you have to move around like you are sleepwalking. Also for those who go to fetch the food, they have constant trouble to find it and then the soup arrives cold.

Few men eat it, and most of the times they spill it on the way when they stumble and fall. We long to be relieved. But here I have not really suffered from the cold.

Dear Emma, is your arm still bothering you? Can you still use it? Do not hide the state of your health from me.

I have nothing interesting to tell you. I will continue to write to you as often as I can, but don’t get worried even when you receive no letter from me for two or three days.

 

Kiss your parents and Georges for me.

Lots of soft caresses from your

Reymond

 

I am sending you your 52^nd letter which I kept for a while as well as your 56^th. So you will have all of them.

7th April, 1915

55^th letter

My dearest Emma,

I received your 58^th letter. Unfortunately it brings me the sad news of what happened to Isaac. It must be very hard for him. May the Lord grant him the strength to endure this cruel ordeal.

I am glad that you take Georges with you wherever you go. This must make him very happy. I long so much to see your photos.

Yes my darling, my greatest wish is that he begins to love the Lord very early.

What can I tell you? Yesterday I wrote ​​you a long letter, and this morning I wrote two long letters to my brother and to my sister Emma. I have been neglecting you a little, but please do not think that I do not love you. It is only that I do not have the strength to write because this is tiring. God willing, I will write to you a little longer tomorrow. Do not be annoyed by this short letter today. I am still in quite good health and my cold is almost completely gone. I wish you good health and I kiss you very strongly.

 

I also send you many mimis.

Your husband who loves you very very much,

Reymond

6th April, 1915

54^th letter 

 

My beloved,

I have just received your 57^th letter which is dated March 29^th. I am really glad, because I can see that you are less discouraged. The composition is well known. You have done very well to have had yourselves photographed, both you and Georges. He will be 3 years old tomorrow. It is now more than eight months that I have not seen him and maybe I will be granted the joy to see you both in photos. But it will take several more days before I receive these pictures. Undoubtedly it will be postcards because for that price it is impossible to have something which is very beautiful. But it will be quite nice for me to have that at least. As you said, it would have been great if we had been photographed before the war. If we are lucky enough to be reunited again here on Earth, we will surely do it, isn’t that right?

Over the last eight months, I have seen many sad things. Recently, upon arriving in the region where I have been for more than two weeks now, I saw a painting depicting the effects of the war, which hit me rather hard and more specifically, made my heart ache.

I hesitated to tell you about it, not because of censorship since I am not naming the place, but more so not upset you. Today, however, I cannot help but tell you about it.

To leave at 2 am in the blistering cold on a road that is filled with frozen snow, was a very wearisome walk. It became quite difficult to keep standing up so there were some of the men who regularly stretched themselves out as much as they could. But this was nothing, we had fun despite all of that and we competed to see who could remain standing the longest. Of all these falls that we had, only one man had dislocated arm.

We soon met up with the ambulances which took the injured soldiers from the village. This does not excite me too much, as this is common. The saddest part was when I saw civilians, who were mostly women and old people, driving their cattle ahead of them and carrying a small bundle on their back.

The animals stumbled and fell clumsily obstructing our journey and then came the horse-drawn carriages, two cows, and even just one animal sometimes like a single horse. (What I can say just from passing through is that it is the way of life in the country). These cars were filled with the most urgent and the most valuable furniture.

The platoon was slipping because the climb was tough. The road rose much steeper than that of the Pin and passed through areas which were even sloppier. Many times, the drivers were forced to put their hands on the wheels and push them. This all happened in silence because we were very close to the enemy and we risked getting shells shot at us.

Meanwhile we came across groups of unhappy women carrying babies in their arms or pushing them in small carts. Alongside other children of about 2, 3 or 4 years clung to them. It all happened going uphill, at night, in the ice and snow, which could sometimes turn into bitter coldness.

Oh! I will never forget this insight of the war. Among these children there were those who were crying, and these poor mothers who had to hold back their own tears with great difficulty so as not to alarm their children. Poor babies! Having to face weather like this…

Right now I cannot hold back my tears thinking of all these evils. Sometimes I ask myself if this is all a dream or if I imagined it all. But it is reality.

In the distance we could hear the shooting. Occasionally there was the frightening flash of canon fire that would cut across the horizon. The echo of explosions reverberated from ravine to ravine which seemed to be telling about all the misfortunes: Hurry up, daytime is coming and I will spew death on all those who try to escape.

During this journey the danger into which we were heading did not preoccupy my mind. I did not care that we were going towards gun fire, it is our duty, and it was not the first time. This does not scare me. I have seen fathers of families fall and disappear but it seems, as it were, natural. But all of these unfortunates created villages that were more hospitable where death did not have the power. It was a thousand times more impressive and gloomy because the night was cold and dark. It looked like the shadows were just gliding over the white of the snow. And another thing, a very old woman, who could not see anything, was groping around while she was walking and managed to advance alone, forsaken; But did she get to the top? I doubt it.

Oh! Darling, my thoughts always fall back on you too. I ask myself how you would handle it if such a misfortune would befall you, if you had to flee from the house. What a great blessing it is that our country is not part of “the theater of war”.

Oh! My dear Emma I cannot continue to describe this to you, it is just too sad. Let us unite in asking God to have mercy on these unfortunate people and to put a stop these terrible atrocities.

You tell me that your trip to Valence was quite busy. Georges must be asking you a lot of questions about what he saw. Will he remember anything? You did not tell me how you stood before the photographer. I told you in one of my letters, which you obviously did not receive in time, to ensure that Georges was standing upright. That way I would have been able to determine his height next to you. But if it is done another way, there is no reason to be upset about it.

His aunts have really spoiled him too much. I am sure that he would gladly start going for walks again, if only to go for the cakes.

You did well to bring in the glycine plant. God willing we will make an arbor garden and it will be very beautiful. A few days went by without you receiving any letters. Sometimes it happens that I just do not have the time, but that does not mean that I am thinking less about you. I love you very much, my little darling. The last few days, since April 1^st, I have written to you every day except on April 4^th.

Today I’m writing from the trenches, I am in a hole. For about a quarter of an hour we have been bombarding them a lot. The shells pass over my head heading towards the enemy trenches. It looks like everyone gets a turn. In the morning it was the Germans who were shooting at us.

I am going to stop writing so that I can go to make a round.

 

Give my regards to all of our friends whenever you see them and give me news about the aunt from Bâtiment.

Kiss your parents and our dear little zouzou.

 

I kiss you very strongly and cover you with gentle caresses.

Your darling husband,

Reymond

 

PS I am sending you one of your letters in this one.

5th April 1915

53^rd letter

My dearest Emma,

Yesterday I could not write to you, I am on the front line in the trenches. I am in a forest of fir and pine trees. They are small and we cannot see far. The Germans are at about 500 or 600 meters away. Here, where I am, I dominate over two villages. There is one which is 800 meters away. It is at the foot of the mountain where I am and it has very steep slopes so they would have a hard time attacking us from the front.

We can hear their bells and clocks ringing because we do not use our artillery to shoot at houses.

This is very surprising because there is no doubt that there are soldiers hidden inside. We ask ourselves why we are not firing at them.

With regards to being in danger, I am fine, but with regards to housing, well it is still the same. Even though we have houses just in front of us, we are obliged to sleep in the huts made of branches. Our neighbors are better off than we are. They would not want to share their roof but the truth is that we did not ask them.

Since 1:00 this morning the weather is mild but there is a fine rain falling which is quite penetrating as well. On the top of the mountains it is very likely that it is snowing. Where I am it is at a low altitude and the rain has almost finished melting snow. But my men are all soaked because of it. As for me, I am very happy to have a raincoat.

 

I will leave you for today and finish by kissing you very strongly.

Your husband Reymond

 

My darling,

I am adding this sheet again before closing my card and going to rest. I try to rest as much as possible during the day while my sergeants take care of the surveillance because it is easier to do so during the day than at night. That way I am less sleepy at night when I have to patrol.

I asked you in one of my letters to send me a package. I am not sure if you received that letter. That would not be too bad here, because the soup arrives cold and inedible and the meat is not very appetizing when it’s cold neither because it is too fatty and indigestible. I usually eat some sardines with my bread, but in the end this is disgusting. So if you could find a box that closes well, that can hold half a pound, or a little bit more, of butter and an iron which you could also fill with fresh butter and spread a little salt around the edges to preserve it. A box of cocoa might also be good. This would last me several days. Don’t send me large amounts at a time. My supply of chocolate is running out but maybe I can get some here.

 

Until tomorrow,

Reymond

28th March, 1915 ER received 4th April

56^th letter  Bergerons

My dearest and beloved Reymond

Today, Sunday, I will not go out. I was alone most of the day with my little Georges up until now -it is 3:00. As I told you, yesterday afternoon they came to get my dad for my aunt who was very ill. He returned at nightfall and mom went there to spend the night. Towards the evening the doctor, Mr. Bouvat, came to see my dad and he gave him no hope for her recovery. He wrote a prescription for some medication which my dad then went to get in the morning in St. Péray. Right now, at the time that I am writing to you, he went to take a short rest while the cows are eating. Then after giving them something to drink and helping to milk them, he will go there again to spend the night and mother will return to sleep here. Mother came by for a moment during the day but had to go back again. At that time, there was only Mariette from Fringuet at their house but, since she is so sick, she constantly needs two people to take care of her or to get her what she needs. She cannot be left alone.

What terrible news for poor Isaac! Yesterday I sent him a card to warn him that his mother was extremely tired. Nothing has been mentioned to him yet and since the disease seems to be progressing, I thought that we should not hide the truth from him. Yesterday Mr. Bouvat said that it was very possible that she would not be alive after tomorrow. So, maybe today I would do well to send a few words again to Isaac to inform him that she is doing much worse. I will not tell him how things are the way that I am telling it to you, it would be too hard on him.

From his home, his sister wanted to write to him, but this does not prevent me in any way from sending him a few words, since I already started to prepare him yesterday. Poor Isaac… I really feel sorry for him. To know that we have already buried his father and he was not able to come and, now, it looks like it will be the same situation with his mother… by all appearances. Only misery exists on this poor earth!

It seems that this morning my uncle Simeon returned home from Alboussière but he did not stop here (they were no more friends than with us, only when they had things to do together so I wondered why he dared to go there). But this is not where I wanted to go with that, I just wanted to tell you that my aunt opened her mouth to tell him what a wonderful place she was going to and how she longed to be with her Savior. These words must have seemed very strange to Simeon because he did not respond to her.

My darling, I do not think that I will chat with you for very long today. I do not know what to say to you right now. I am thinking of all these different types of miseries and sorrows and I do not know what to write.

Work?

Would you like me to talk to you about it? My dad planted the clover but, yesterday, he was not able to finish bundling what he had sowed on the Jacques’ land. It has started to rain; today again, it rained for the greater part of the day. Now the weather has cleared, maybe it will be a beautiful day. Since I sent you the cost per days of the help, Viauja only came once. None-the-less, you can see from the details that I give you, that part of your work is getting done, at least the most important part. The land is not empty.

Thank God my dad is not ill and therefore he can work a lot. However, sometimes he says that he feels incapable of doing it when there are big jobs to do and the days are as short as they are right now. Because of this he proposed to me to keep cows at Rondez, where the grass is short. That way the animals can graze there and we would not have to worry about leaving the grass and shrubs to dry out.

If you are opposed to it then I will not let him do it, but for my part, I think that it would not be too bad.

Since the meadows are not mowed, the herdsman will not be able to keep all the cows alone, so I would help him out for a few hours each day and instead of giving them hay or other fodder[1] they will be sufficiently satisfied in the meadow. The herdsman will also stay a few extra hours each day to help my dad. Many people have told me that they wanted to do the same thing.

What do you expect? We manage things as best as we can. If the wars do not come to an end there will not be enough people to work in the fields. Recently I saw Marie from Bellin rolling their wheat and spreading fertilizer and manure with her brother. As for me, I do not do these kinds of jobs. My health does not permit me to. Even though I am not sick, I will never be much stronger. If I don’t sleep enough or I am too tired, I get a headache again.

Last night I slept very little and today I have a heavy head. My arm hurts a lot. I have to buy another box epispastic paper because I still have pain in one ear and if I do not take care of this blister when I need too, it might be a greater inconvenience later on. I do not know if we will go to Valence tomorrow with Georges. I really hope so and from there I will send you a few more words if I go.

Goodbye, my beloved, I will write you a much longer letter when I am better prepared and when it is not so dark. I kiss you many times on both cheeks and on your beard also.

 

Your wife who loves you,

Emma

 

Have I told you before that the Fayat’s son from Fialaix is in Romans with a shoulder injury? As for the other one who was married to Sylvie, no one knows anything at all about him.

 

Georges bothered me as much as he could while I was writing to you. The poor little thing wanted me to play with him and I let him cry for that. Finally I took his little hand in mine and he wrote you the letter. There it is…very happy, very proud.

I told him that I would take him to Valence and he was very pleased. He asked me many questions about it, but mostly he wanted to know if I would buy him a cake.

Oh! What a little greedy boy. And now he is calling his grandpa, who is busy giving the cows something to drink, to play with him. He gets bored playing all alone with his games and that is understandable.

One day you asked me if we would have enough hay. There are several bales[2] left. We used 2 as feed: the worst one and one of the older ones.

During the course of this week we must bring in another one (I think Uncle Eugene will help us this week because he helped out a few days in Fraisse in order to pay some debt). There are 4 outside including 2 small ones. The attic where the goats are is still half full.

We still have young clover in the attic of Jacques, more than enough for the pigs. If we kept the cows that are at Rondez, probably just one of the big bundles will be enough for us to go well into the summer.

 

Emma did not speak to me any more about the one belonging to the Mellys which you already know …

 

Letter from Georges to his dad

Dear Dad,

Am I not a good boy for writing you a short letter?

Mommy is holding my little hand in hers, and I’m glad to let her guide me.

I laugh at it and I make little comments as I watch our writing because I do not know how to read.

 

I send you lots of mimis and I wish that you come soon

Your little Georges

[1] Fodder : Feed for livestock, especially coarsely chopped hay or straw

[2] Bales : round bundles of hay

3rd April, 1915

52^nd letter 

 

My dearest Emma

Yesterday I wrote to you, but I think that I forgot to put the number of the letter. You can take note of it the one from 2/4 is number 51. I also sent another one on which I wrote the number on the outside. I think it was number 50.

I just received your 56^th letter dated 28/03. Alas, it did not bring me any good news. The aunt from Bâtiment who has no hope of recovery and I am so sorry to hear about poor Isaac. He is going to be very discouraged, because here it is much easier to get discouraged. The moral trials tend to have more of an impact because there is also the physical fatigue that goes along with it. You told me that he could not bear to see his mother buried. But I don’t think that he will be given permission. It is impossible.

May the Lord give him the courage that he needs during this difficult time, if this happens to him.

In fact Simeon must have been surprised to hear the aunt say that she was happy to leave this earth. For someone who has all of his hopes on this earth, it must be hard to think about death and about that last separation. Aren’t we happy, despite all these hardships, to have this great hope that when we leave this tent we will have a heavenly dwelling that is not made by the hands of men but which has been prepared for us by the Lord Jesus? I understand that you were quite discouraged.

Oh! Darling do not loose hope because of all these tests; be strong and courageous. It makes me sad to think that you could be in a much more serious situation and that I would not be comforted knowing that you are strong and courageous. With your health which is evidently fragile, I can see that you are at risk of becoming seriously ill. Our poor little Georges would then be alone. I can’t help but shed tears just thinking about it.

I fear that you are not telling me the whole truth about your health. You told me that your arm was almost completely healed and now it gives much pain. You must have worked too much and not taken enough care of yourself. Once again it is a challenging time. The moment that your parents are no longer with you, you will have even more work and also a lot of sadness.

Oh! I am longing to have some news from you. Send me news as often as you can, regardless if it is just a few words… a small letter card.

Oh! I beg you not to hide anything from me about your health. Take care of yourself, see a doctor, I will do my best to send you as much money possible. Did you receive the letter dated 2/4 in which I had slipped a 5 francs bill? You will consult a doctor won’t you? And you will take good care of yourself…

In your letter you told me that you would keep the cows in the Jacques’ meadow. You will see that I am ahead of you concerning this idea. That is the best thing to do. We must gather what is nearest and put them on wheels right there on the spot because it will be less work.

That way, if at Préaux it becomes difficult to cut it then you can just leave it. This is far and there is not a lot of hay. At Rondez there is a meadow which yields benefits and is also easy for harvesting. It is not necessary to pick everything on the edges of meadows. Besides your father knows exactly what there is to do.

At the same time that I received your letter, I got a card from Emma from Francillon. She spoke to me about your letter. She writes to me every week which is very nice of her. I also received a card from my sister Emma. It was short and did not tell me anything new. Did Georges receive his letter? I was very happy to have received his little letter. Does he realize that the paper can talk? He is still very young.

Dearest Emma, I will return to the frontline in the trenches but we will not be in the same place. It is further away from Boche. So there, in order for them to attack us it is a very steep climb which means that we are in much less danger.

By the time that you receive this letter we will already be there where I just told you about. They relieve us often.

Today a few light snowflakes fell and it is once again the cold weather. Yesterday the snow melted at sunrise but where it is exposed to the north it melted very little. And yet I still do not suffer too much from the cold.

What else can I talk to you about? I will leave that for tomorrow, God willing.

Thank you for the “Feuillet Illustré” that you sent to me.

 

I am going to leave you for today but I leave you by holding you in my arms.

Lots of mimis for Georges and kiss your parents for me. Tell them that I often think about them and that I thank them very much for all trouble that they go through because of me.

 

Your husband,

Reymond