The Letter
Written from Walcha on the 20th of December 1935, this is a sympathy letter from Annie E. Ryan to her cousin Lilly after Polly passed away just before Christmas. Here is the full text, word for word, with the old spelling kept. Square brackets mark spots where the paper is torn.
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[…] Walcha. 20th Dec. 1935.
My Dear Lilly,
It is with the most heartfelt sympathy that I now write to you in your sudden sorrow & great loss, & knowing how far from well you have been I trust God gives you strength to bear it. I got such a shock when Tom came home with the mail & told me, then I realised that our phone was out of order or someone would have rang me up, however Mr Harry Noakes found the wire lapped near his house & I soon got through. I had been in town yesterday & as we went out in the morning I got the Xmas card out of the mailbox from Polly & last night I was showing it to Nell & Dave & laughing at the cute little dog on it & the dear girl must have then been passed away & me planning to send her a card & cheery message. Well Lilly, I say, May God rest her poor pain wracked & weary body & make her soul happy in Heaven for He knows that she has earned her Crown of Glory by giving up all her own interests in life & looking after other dying people. Her [ch]ildhood & youth was practically den[ied]
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in the years she spent looking after our Granny, then it fell her duty to look after your poor mother in her suffering, next she unselfishly turned to Aunt Susan when she really ought to have rested & had someone to look after her, then your poor Dad was ill so long & she nobly stood by & did all she could for him. I saw her Lilly, & God knows how I admired & felt for her. Lilly Dear, I don't think we should mourn for her. I think we should thank God for giving her, her last long sleep, the Rest she has so nobly earned. The pains she has suffered & would continue to suffer, for I know she would never get well. It was a great shock to you all but I know you will see that it was for the best. I was very fond of her & often thought she must be lonely not being able to go out much & I used to write to her sometimes but had not written for quite a long while, but I am glad now that I did have a few words to her at the Hall that night.
Give our sympathy to the other members of the family, Dear, & try & bear up. I do hope you are
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feeling much better now.
They say sympathy letters should be brief Lilly, but I felt I must write a long letter, but Dear, if it opens up your fountain of tears afresh, please forgive me & not read it again. But I know you will understand how I have admired & loved Polly. When I grew up & realised the sacrafice Polly had made by staying with Granny all those years it made me think that there was a lot of selfish beasts amongst us, for it was downright cruelty for Polly to live there all those years in that unhealthy hovel of a place.
Trusting you will understand how I feel for the Dear one gone & the sorrowing ones left, I will close with fond love & deepest sympathy from your
Loving Cousin
Annie E. Ryan & her family.