My Aunt Polly and Grandmother Elsie Philips, circa 1939, in Darien, Conn.
This past week we’ve been studying schizophrenia in the psychology class I’m taking at BSU. Schizophrenia often manifests itself in late teens and early twenties. This evening I was reading some of my grandfather’s letters and discovered this one, where he discusses Polly’s frame of mind. In 1943, when this letter is written, she was 21 years old. Two years later she would be diagnosed with schizophrenia. In this letter, my grandfather is an army officer, training recruits at Camp Maxey, Texas. The letter is addressed to my grandmother.
Simply fascinating! Henry was so sweet and very much in love with Elsie. It seems their love remained steadfast and they weathered the mental health problems of their daughters.
He is very eloquent, much like someone else I know. No mention of Barb?