March 21, 1937 |
Fahrlander Family | ||
| Haltingen, March 21, 1937 Dear Uncle and Family Your letter which you wrote to Father in Siegelau has arrived and gave Father great joy. It is true that Father could not see well. However, he could still read everything in enlarged handwriting. Unfortunately, dear Uncle, that was your last letter which you could write your dear Brother and our good Father. God, the Almighty, has taken our Father after a short but painful illness to Him. He died on the 13th of March at half past eleven at noon. At the time I was at the train station intending to go to him when the news arrived by telephone that God had taken our dear Father to Him. Thus I could not talk with him anymore, which was very painful for me. I suffer very much under the loss of my Father. We had understood each other very well. On Sunday and Monday, the 7th and 8th of March, I was home and we talked about everything, especially about you, dear Uncle. He still showed me many letters which you had written to Father during the last years you were in America. At every opportunity, especially during the last years, Father always talked about you, silently hoping to see you again. When our dear Mother was not alive anymore, Father lost his will to live too.* During this last year I often went home in order to cheer him up and distract him, but his desire for life did not really want to rise again. His last words were, “Home to Mother.” My God gave him a life rich in work. Many people came to accompany him on his last journey on the day of the funeral and showed him their last honor. Now we have to console ourselves and hope for seeing each other again in eternity where there will be no more saying farewell, but we, Dear Uncle, we want to keep alive our tie of connectedness with you and your home country. Now, dear Uncle, I would like to address a few words to your daughter Helene. The letter which was written in English I could translate quite well. Whatever I myself did not know, I was able to have translated by a colleague of mine. I was very happy to hear about her life, especially that she was so deeply concerned about the well-being of our Father. According to the way she writes she likes to listen to and perform music. I myself play the violin too. Helene me that she wants to send me some sketches of her parents which had done herself. These drawings have arrived just now and they are not damaged. I enjoyed them very much and will have them framed and if the opportunity arrives, judged by an expert in art. In my judgement these drawings are very good and were done with a lot of expertise and talent, very much alive and full of similarity. I would like to thank Helene very much for them and will keep these pictures as a valuable reminder. I will express my gratitude for them later.** Otherwise all of us are well, which is what I hope of you too. My son, Hansrudi, has his “White” Sunday now too, and is ten years old. Some brothers and sisters will come to this small celebration.*** Our business is doing well. We always have a fair amount to do. Today is Good Friday and this is a holiday for all of us in Germany. I will stay in Haltingen over Easter. I can hardly comprehend it that neither of my parents is still alive and that our home has become so empty. Well, we have to submit to the commands of the Almighty. I want to conclude now and thank you very much. I also wish all of you health and everything good. I hope that we will write each other again soon. Best regards from my entire family. Yours, Vitus. * She died Jan. 19, 1936. ** Hansrudi showed us these drawings when we were there in 1974. *** Probably First Communion. |
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