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Leonard Kephart to Laura Kephart, April 13, 1949, page 1

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  • April 13, 1949 Dear Mama, Mary Ann tells me that she has already written to you about the arrival three days ago of Ann Frazer Kephart, weight about 7 pounds. So now we are all ancestors again. I hope it does not become monotonous to you now that tere [sic] are so many married grandchildren. The thing that is already bothering me is to keep track of their ages and birthdays. Now I see why Longfellow birthday books were invented and I’m sure going to get one if they are still available. I’m blessed if I could recite right now the ages and birthdays of my own family and grand-family. Its a tough life. Mary Ann is doing so well that she scarcely seems to have had any part in the fracas. I dont know what process the doctors use nowadays but whatever it is it is apparently painless or nearly so. Chief annoyance seems to be the long wait and disfiguring appearance. Otherwise we hardly know that a new baby has arrived. The baby, unfortunately, had a set-back. Its lungs did not function completely after the first two hours and they had to put it in an incu- bator under oxygen. However, it seems to be coming along all right now for it was out of the incubator last night and was breathing normally so far as I could see. Buddy and Mary Ann takes such matters easily and though she does not do all things the way Frances would do them is rais- ing a nice family. Buddy is working hard at his store and while not yet getting rich is gradually enlarging the business and should be well on his feet in another year or two. I’m still of mind to retire from the Government and go into business with him though I’ll admit I’ve not been formally asked. But I always did think I’d like to have a hardware store. That’s one trait that Buddy and I have always had in common. Strangely enough we dont see very much of George and Pauline though they now live about four blocks away. Since all four of us are working there isnt much chance for the women to get together and all of us seem to be too tired at night to want to gad very much. I dont know how much longe [sic] Pulline [sic] will work but Frnaces [sic] is talking of quitting about the first of year. By that time she will have had a total of 15 years service in the Government and can get a small pension. I could retire now if I wanted too but at a reduced pension so guess I’ll stick around for a couple of years more if I can stand it. After that I dont have any plan beyond the possibility of working with Buddy. Jane writes that Ralph has been told that he probably will be sent back to school next year to get a Doctors degree and they are pulling what wires they have to go back to Leland Stanford. They are quite in love with the place even though its far from home. We all expected that Ralph would finally be ordered overseas and I, at least, dreaded the idea. If he can get an advanced degree he will be well set for any eventuality including a return to civilian status. Poor Barbara still does not have any fixed plans. She is still working at the Maxwell Field Air Base on a temporary job but is beginning to feel that she had better make up her mind that she will have to support herself some day and had better be getting started. She does not talk about it but she is still bitter at the failure of the marraige [sic] business and would be extremely cautious about getting into it again. I think she should be in some public-relations job for that certainly is her strong suit and I’d not be surprised if she stays here at home when Jane and Ralph make their next move and goes to an advanced scholl [sic] for such things.
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