That summer of ’49 Morris was happy, well mostly for Barbara wasn’t there. She just got back from Tallahassee when, dang, off she went to Michigan, but she loved him, he knew, from all the letters he got.  His job at the Chemistry Department was working out really well and he started working more hours, which was good since he got paid by the hour.  He got letters from Barbara three or four times a week, which pleased him although she nagged him about writing her back which annoyed him a little since he didn’t like writing and didn’t have much to say anyway.  He told her in one letter he went to the beach at St. Augustine and in her next letter she seemed a bit jealous thinking he might have gone with another girl, but he had just gone with family, his parents, brother and grandmother and a couple cousins.  

Throughout the summer Morris hung out with his cousin Jimmy Mixson quite a bit which was interesting for Jimmy was dating Barbara’s sister Sue.  Morris and Jimmy would compare letters they got from the sisters.  Jimmy worked at the funeral home in Ocala and Morris would visit Jimmy there when he was working even once sleeping their overnight, “no bodies around”, he says in his letter.  He found it amusing when he wrote Barbara a letter on the Funeral Home’s letterhead and envelope which he even formally typed Barbara’s name and address.  He could just see her face when she saw it, thinking he might have died.   He tells Barbara, “Tell Sue Jimmie has a good line and she’d better make sure her anchor is tied on good. He knows a lot of girls in Ocala.”  

One thing he wasn’t happy about was some guy in a truck hit his car in Ocala and messed it up pretty bad, but Morris makes fun of it saying, “Well I’ve got both sides of my car alike now”.  He struggled with getting it fixed and trying to get the man to pay for the repairs evening thinking about talking to a lawyer about it. He started to look at used cars and said he saw a cream colored ’41 Ford convertible that he liked, it sure was pretty.  

He sure was glad when Barbara got back and went over to see her. They sat at the end of the dock on Lake Weir as the sun was setting and they kissed until the sun went down and then for the first time, they said they loved each other, well in person anyway all those letters were not the same thing.  They agreed to go steady and Morris was happy as the summer came to a close.

See 99 Love Letters

Updated: 12-27-2021

Fall of 1949