My Dearest Naomi by Jerry, Tina Eicher Page B

It would give a worthwhile feeling to help people who have so terribly lost their way. Especially people who are living out on the streets.
    I hope you are keeping yourself entertained and that the flu bug has passed on by now. The best to you.
    Love you,
    Eugene

October 11
Hello, dear Eugene,
    How does this find you? Well and happy, I hope.
    Don, Dad, and Lester went fishing at the Yoders’ pond tonight. They left with the open buggy. Brrr…it’s pretty chilly and cloudy. They’re planning to fish till late. I can’t see what is so fun about fishing, but they were all excited.
    Last night was a beautiful evening, but according to how I was feeling it should have been raining cats and dogs. I cried upstairs with my head under the pillow for a long time so Mom couldn’t hear me. It must be the aftereffects of that nasty flu spell I had.
    To top things off, I had a big disappointment tonight when I arrived home. Boo hoo…no letter from you. I will try to wait patiently.
    You might not have much news to write about, but it would’ve been great just to hear from you. Maybe it is better I don’t have you around at the moment since I’m fighting back the tears. But having you here would make them go away, wouldn’t it? Yes, it would. Now I’m really crying, and it’s all your fault.
    I had to struggle against tears more than a few times today, and I almost cried in public, which was a new experience for me. Usually when I’m around people I’m not bothered with the threat of tears. Thankfully things got better as the day progressed. Perhaps I shouldn’t be telling you this, lest you think there’s something seriously wrong with me or with our relationship. There’s not. It’s just that I’m so sad and can’t really explain why. I hope you can understand.
    Church was at Bishop Enos’s, and the young folks had a short singing in the afternoon for some of the old people who live in town. Dad didn’t want me taking our horse Vick because he’s lame, so we hitched up the younger one. I don’t think Dad would have let me drive him without Don along. Can you believe that?
    I didn’t want to go at all, really, not with such sorrow hanging over my head, but I thought it’d look silly if I didn’t. When we walked out to the buggy, I wavered again at the thought of the drive into town.
    I said to Don, “Listen, I don’t feel very well, and I’d rather stay home. So why don’t you go by yourself?”
    Don shrugged because he didn’t care one way or the other either. Betsy, who was also going, threw a fit. But I still wouldn’t have gone if Adam andBrenda, with Julia riding with them, hadn’t driven up right then. They saw I wasn’t planning to go. Adam said, “Oh, come on, Naomi!” and this and that until I climbed into our buggy. We caravanned to the gathering.
    After we arrived, we walked all over town, stopping to sing at only two places because nobody else was at home. So my instincts had been correct. I should have stayed home.
    Guess what? We have received a wedding present already. Someone I used to work for gave us a silver tea set. He said he wanted to give it to me when I married, but now he is getting married. They have two of everything, so he thought he’d give me the present now. That’s strange since his place is the one I liked to work at the least.
    I used to clean for him before I started dating you. His first wife was still living then, and they had the messiest house you ever saw. Anyway, I never thought I’d own something that’s made of silver.
Tuesday evening…
    I received one of your longed-for letters today. When Mom told me yesterday that it was a mail holiday because of Columbus Day, I was quite disappointed. You don’t know how much I look forward to your letters.
    You did scare me a little because you sounded so down. Is everything okay? I’m glad you continue writing regardless of how you feel.
    When I think of how much you love me, I certainly don’t feel worthy of