48th letter
My darling,
If you had seen where I spent these few nights I don’t know what you would say. Perhaps you would laugh about it as we sometimes did. Imagine that I drove a wedge through the pinewoods of Rondet, and instead of the pines there were Christmas trees. In this place where I am it is the size of an arm or leg.
I would say it’s like a ditch of about 1.10m deep and 0.80m wide. On one side it does not go in very far, and the other side is where I get into it, needless to say that I can only enter on all fours.
I spread out my coat and put my blanket over it. The bed is not great, but if it was not for the cold I would be just fine. For the roof there are branches of fir and over the branches a little earth. Then over the last two days we have had 40 centimeters of snow and it is coming down again. The surrounding is very picturesque. All branches that were not blown away by the canons are loaded with snow. But good luck to the person who touches it because he will receive a good snow shower. There are even some who jokingly give a kick to the trees when comrades pass underneath. You see what I mean? Very often bullets tumble down by tapping on the branches.
For a few days now, there has not been any serious fighting where I am. In fact it is pretty quiet, everyone stays in his position and we observe. Many of their men, who came as close as ten meters probably with the intention of throwing bombs at us, were killed. Since they are very close to us, they do not have a long way to go. They can easily be heard if they speak loudly. The distance is not greater than from your door to the fountain, where you go to draw water.
Since my burrow does not have two exits I can light a candle at night. It makes me feel warm, plus I use it to heat up my soup and my meat. The fire is not strong, but I find it very useful.
We will spend a few days there and then some others will come to relieve us.
I think that you have, more or less, an idea of how I am doing. We drink everything cold. The 1/4 liter of wine freezes in the bottle. But despite all of this, we encourage each other and we find a way to laugh at these miseries.
Alas, it is sad this war.
When will it end? Only God knows. Let us trust in Him, He never allows our trials to be greater than our forces. So, I told you that I had a cold. Well! Despite this inconvenient situation I am almost not even coughing any more. Do not be alarmed about me because if I find out that you are then I will not tell you any more about how I am. I hope that you will not do anything about it but that you will always be confident in the Lord.
Soon, perhaps he will come for us in his glory. Oh! And then what a beautiful day it will be when we can abandon this world filled with misery and we can bless and praise Him for all eternity. Here, we are weak, but up there we will achieve perfection.
In my letter of the 27th I forgot to thank you for copying the beautiful song that I asked you to copy for me. You really do give yourself too much trouble for my sake. You do not need to write at length to me, I will forgive you. I know that you love me. Your work takes up too much of your time for you devote such long hours to writing to me.
Teach our dear Georges as best as you can and make it your duty to teach him to love the Savior and to serve him from an early age. I ask God to give you strength and that He Himself directs his young heart to Him.
Did you get the photos that were in the letter of the 27th as well as the letters that you had sent to me and which I returned to you? In this envelope I am going to send you one or two more.
Say hello to the cousins from Bonnets if you go there anytime soon. You will also tell me about the extent of Paul’s injury.
Give my regards also to Baudy. Did my photo arrive and did that please her? Kiss your parents for me.
Lots of Mimis for you and Georges and also lots of hugs,
My Dearest Emma 