Stories from the Tree - Postcards from home

I have mentioned before that the letters, postcards and telegrams that my mother and others gathered and stuck in their albums (unfortunately, literally stuck, or glued, or scotch taped) are the source of some of the most interesting stories in the Family Tree. Like this one my aunt Lou Amma wrote in 1907 (at age 7) to her grandparents, John and Cora Hall:

"Grandma & Grandpa, I wish you would come and see little Cora. She is just as sweet with her new cap sock and shoes on that Mama made I want to see you too."

"Little Cora," is of course my mother, less than 4 months old at the time. Some years later, Cora herself wrote to her grandpa. This card was not mailed, so it was probably included in a letter or package.

There are two cards, written on consecutive days, March 18th and 19th, 1909, from my grandfather Lee Bramblett to his mother-in-law, Cora Hall, concerning the health of his wife Maggie, who was 7 months pregnant with my aunt Ina at the time.

"Alvarado Tex, 3/18
We are getting along very well I recon Maggie hasnt had any fever for 2 days, but there is something the matter with one of her legs that is bothering her some today the Dr didnt come yesterday dont guess he will have to come any more with out she gets worse. come to dinner. 
Bye Bye Lee B."

"Alvarado Tex, 3/19/1909
Mr & Mrs Hall. We are still on the mend but not as fast as I would like to see Maggies leg is better this morning but her side hurts her some She is not having any fever now so I guess she is getting along as well as could be expected. The rest is all O.K. Cora is bad and still getting Badder write soon and often to us children Lee B."

Several things catch my attention regarding these two cards. Lee concludes the first card with the invitation, "Come to dinner."  I guess it was just a polite way to close, because the trip from Hammon Oklahoma to Alvarado Texas at the time was five, long, hard days in a horse-drawn wagon. Lee knows this - he made that trip seven years earlier.

And in between Thursday the 18th of March and Friday the 19th, he became rather formal, addressing the card to "Mrs John H. Hall" and adding the salutation, "Mr & Mrs Hall." He dropped the folksy invitation to dinner and the "Bye Bye," closing with a please "write soon and often."

And of course, my mother had reached her "terrible twos."  "Cora is bad and still getting Badder" - and Badder is capitalized! I love it!

And we know that Maggie recovered from her health issues. She delivered a healthy baby girl the following May (and another boy - her 8th child - sixteen years later) and lived for nearly 50 more years.