37th letter 9th March, 1915
My dear wife,
I received your letter dated March 2nd, number 43, and the package that you sent to me. Please thank my sister for the trouble that she went through to put it together for me.
I will tell you that it could not have arrived at a more timely moment. When they brought it to me, I was at the table with two comrades. We were just saying that we would not mind having a little dessert… that would be great and here it was! They brought me a package and two letters, one from you and one from my brother Elie.
Just so that you understand why I am not eating with everyone else, I will tell you that instead of eating in a shed, since we did not find the house big enough to prepare our meals, I decided to stay back where I am being lodged. We are three men in a room and so we asked the owner, who is a good worker, if his wife could not prepare us something to eat. They gladly accepted. It is only the boss who understands French. Also, because he goes to work very early in the morning and returns in the evening at 6 o’clock, it’s not easy to understand when to prepare what you want. The wife and her children are very helpful. The first day we arrived we told them that we normally cook two fried eggs for everyone. It was done for us, but upon eating them I thought they were sweet, but really sweet!! Those who were with me could not understand how they had been prepared. We joked about it, saying that the chickens did not produce the same eggs as in France.
Everyone said something about it, but by the second or third piece I realized that, instead of adding salt to the eggs, sugar was added. It was well prepared, with butter, but because we were not used it, it surprised us. If you want to try it out, then you can tell me your impression about preparing it that way. The mother and one of her daughters who were watching us eat opened their eyes wide upon seeing our amazement. But they were also very surprised when we asked them for salt and vinegar. I tried to put a drop of vinegar, but it was terrible. When the father returned home we asked him how they normally prepared their eggs. He told us that this was the way that it is done in the country and that his young daughter thought that she had prepared a special treat for us. The next day we gave them our portions of meat so that they could make beefsteaks. But we were very careful to tell them not to put any sugar in it. They understood and laughed heartily.
Now they prepare very good food for us. We are warm when eat and at nights we have, in the next room, a good oven. We normally spend some time there before going to bed.
Seeing that we will not be staying here very long, I did not see about having a bed, but I am not deprived of anything because in the room where the three of us sleep, there is a good, thick layer of straw. The apartment is clean and there is no draft passing through. It is a nice room which is lined and well isolated.
Yesterday I sent you a card that should not have taken you very longer to read. I did not have a number because it was not really worth it. These are the cards that are distributed freely to the men, so that in the countryside they can make it known that they are alive and in good health. It does not take a long time to post them being that they are already printed.
Yesterday and today I completely rested. I have a bit of a cold and I am not taking part in the training sessions. This way I can stay warm and heal much quicker. Please don’t think that I am very sick, I eat well and I am hardly coughing. This morning I noticed that my throat does not really hurt anymore or, at least, very little. I went to see the medical officer, and he gave me some kind of medication to gargle in my mouth. It was more as a formality that I went there, because if we don’t take part in the exercises then it is mandatory to go to visit the doctor. The truth is that if the whole battalion had not done a military march then I would not have needed to go there. Whenever we do not go to the trainings which are organized only by the Company, we may be exempted by the captain. For example, yesterday I also did not go to the doctor but I stayed in with the permission of the captain.
I returned (today) from the doctor’s visit at 9:30am, I ate some good bread spread with the butter that you sent to me and mixed with the quince paste that my sister added to the package. But I thought that she had made it for me, am I mistaken? When I was finished eating, I took this paper and my ink and I asked the old lady if she would mind it if I went to do some writing near the oven. She understood that quite easily, but I could not make her understand that I had already eaten and that I was no longer hungry. Usually, when we are together all three of us (with my comrades) we eat at 10:30, but today they will not be back before 2 or 3 o’clock in the afternoon, so I ate without actually cooking something.
This lady brought me a tureen[1] and a cover thinking that I wanted to eat next to the oven. I made her understand that I did not want to eat and that was when she left with her tureen. But then I saw that she was coming back with two eggs in her hand. I smiled, and made her understand, still using sign language, that I did not want it. What actually made her come back with these eggs is that the day before I had told her husband to tell her that today at 10:30am she should not prepare anything, but if they came back from the march later in the morning then they would each eat two eggs before supper. You see how funny it can be when we do not understand what each other is saying.
In this family there is an older boy who is 16 years old, two girls aged 15 and 13, and a boy who just turned three in February. With the last little one I feel like we are a couple of friends. We do not understand each other’s language, but when I give him the sign to come over and I put my hands in my pocket, he understands me very well. He also likes chocolate just as much as Georges. One day I gave him two coins, and then he went to get me a wallet in which there was at least 40 cents worth of money. I realized that it was his piggy bank and all of his savings was kept there.
While I was warming up before I started writing your letter, he climbed up into my lap and we played some little games. Then he showed me his little horse, made out of wood. This is the only toy that he has. His parents would not let him carry stones or wood, or bring anything into the apartments because here in this country, even the farm houses belonging to the workers, are impeccably spotless. Furniture, chairs, floors are gleaming. Even the hallway of the house where I am staying, which is tiled with brick, I hear them washing it at night, after we go to bed so that it would be clean in the morning. They have a cow, but the shed is extraordinarily clean. You have to see it to believe it. Every night they take manure and water from the sink, in which they had washed their dishes and which was collected in a small container made for that purpose, to the meadows.
To enter the house again, they each have a second pair of shoes which they only wear inside. The shoes for outside is usually very large clogs because most of them do not take off their house shoes when they go from inside to outside.
I saw the children entering school and it was the same thing, they leave their clogs in the hallway lockers which are there to store them in, and enter the classroom with their thick socks which are exactly like house shoes.
In every house that I entered as part of my service, I noticed that they liked to put ornaments on the dressers, buffets or fireplaces. There is often a pretty carpet, vases filled with artificial flowers, especially roses, next to photographs, and paintings are hung on the walls which are mostly upholstered. You would even think that maybe they are rich people but I don’t think so because in almost every house there were soldiers and I noticed the same thing everywhere in terms of cleanliness and decoration. On the other hand, the furniture would not be of as high value as where we live, because the closets, dressers, and buffets are mostly made out of cherry wood, and maybe even pinewood. This created a great impression because everything shines and emits cleanliness. For example, the room in which I writing has a wardrobe and chest of drawers made out of cherry wood, and then on the inside of the window there are six small pots of flowers. There is a very resistant fuchsia plant, which is about 30 centimeters tall, but it has not flowered yet. There is another pot containing a small shrub, which you have also but I do not remember what the name is, another pot contains a small carnation plant which is 0.15m high, and in another pot there is a plant that looks like a leek or garlic. The leaves look very similar. In the other two pots, there are small succulent plants. In the corner, near the window, there is a very nice sewing machine which was made in Germany. The table on which I am writing is made of beech wood (or beech) and it is round with a carpet under. You must think that I can recall very well what I see and I must be boring you.
But I am happy to rest myself while writing to you. I do not have the concerns of my service behind me when I should be resting. Many times I write you quite long letters but I must also constantly make sure that everything is in order with the Company. Orders must be given on one side and on the other side I must make sure they are carried out. Sometimes I have more time in the trenches then when we are at rest. However, the last time, because of where I was two weeks ago, I did not feel like writing, I could not sleep because I was always on the alert. Since then, I have not been in the trenches and I do not know when we will be going back.
For now, we are not in combat here. We are resting. Other soldiers have taken up the position at the front in our place.
I wanted to write a letter to Georges. Would he understand that it is for him? If his intelligence has grown as much as when I saw him, I think he would be able to understand. You will speak to me about it when you are able to. You told me recently that he remembers quite well where I stood to shave and how I placed the mirror, as well as where I sat down to eat. Poor little Georges, he is still the happiest one of the three of us because he has no sadness about being separated. May God give him an obedient heart, not by standards of the world, but so that he can understand at an early age the goodness of the Lord.
Get him accustomed to attending worship while he is still young. My darling we are going through some very sad times and yet we should rejoice to be here in these recent times. I have no doubt that we approaching the end of time. If we suffer for a while in our physical earthly bodies, then we must be filled with joy just thinking about the fact that maybe soon our Savior will call upon us and take us with Him. So even though we are dead, it is said in John 11 versus 25-26: “I am the resurrection and the life. He that believeth in me, though he were dead, shall live.”
What a comfort it is to know that even though He does not come during our earthly life, we are assured that we will be with Him. For it is written in Corinthians and the Philippians: “When the believer’s mind leaves the body at death, it goes with Christ.”
Yes many things that go unnoticed in the eyes of unbelievers, or which seems very natural to them or that they feel is a necessity, are however required by God, for it is He who ordains everything according to his will. All those who now control these masses of armed soldiers for war against other men, are the desired and chosen instruments of the Lord. Unconscious yet guilty servants, who will one day have to answer to God for their behavior and their actions. It is written that for these servants it would have been better if they had not been born.
Oh! The Lord keeps us protected in his hands from the instruments of doom. May He increases our faith and make us attentive to his teachings. We need to be aware so that we do not smother the good seed in us for the cares of the world. These are very small things when compared to heavenly and eternal things. At this moment so many things can distract us. For me, the problem is knowing that my work can still continue on for a while and that you would not make ends meet at the end of the year thus leaving you with all the responsibility if I happen to fall during combat. There is also the regret of never being able to see you again or who knows what? So, there are a thousand things that the devil can use to distract me on the path life.
And the same goes for you with all the problems and the work that you have. You could quite easily allow yourself to neglect his word if you are not careful about it. Thus the concerns that you have about knowing that I am in danger could easily cause you to be doubtful and fall into a spiritual slumber. We need to ask God, through Jesus Christ, that He leads and protects us because by ourselves we can do nothing. We can actually taste the happiness he gives to all believers here on earth … “Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven and whose sin is covered.”
Yes, my darling Emma we should be equally happy and we would like to see each other again here on Earth, but in all things may God’s will be done.
Oh how I wish that I could write to you in as much length about this topic but a certain amount of time and tranquility is needed. Have you seen in the newspapers the extent to which the war in Turkey has evolved? Isn’t this a self-fulfilling prophecy? The land promised to Israel seems to be getting delivered at the expense of the Turks. It seems to me that this is great proof what we touched on the last time. You know as well as I do that it is written in the Word.
I just realized that my letter is getting very long. Oh! I know that this is not displeasing to you, and I assure you that the few hours I spent writing did not seem that long to me. Why can’t I give you this pleasure more often?
Goodbye my love, tomorrow I will resume my regular functions.
So, you see that I am not very ill.
While I am waiting for news from you, I send you as many kisses as your cheeks can hold and lots of tender caresses as well.
Your Reymond
This morning I sent you a package in which there is the neck scarf that you had sent to me and a pair of gloves that I had gotten for myself. As I have two pairs and it is embarrassing me.
Excuse the mistakes but I will not reread all this scribbling.
[1] Tureen: A broad deep usually covered dish used for serving foods such as soups and stews
My Dearest Emma 