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#275 Mon July 16 7:10 am My dearest one, Yesterday I took the whole day off for the second time since I've been here - and didn't write you a single line. I first set about to reorder my writing table (the one shared by Arthur and me, but the “my” isn't much of an exaggeration, since I managed to get books, letters, magazines, and newspapers, stationery and miscellany piled about three deep all over before I get around to sorting them out) and filing the last 40 of your letters - first time I've let it go so long. That had its compensation, though; I had the renewed pleasure of taking all the recent snapshots and photographs you've sent out of the envelopes (where I’d put them for that very purpose of having the fun of opening them a second time) - gosh, they’re good, Sweetie! After that I spent far too long - about four hours altogether - sorting snapshots and photographs by time periods and mounting [pg 2] many of them in my album. I don't like the job of putting them in, but I do love having them in order so that I can easily make comparisons. I did not mount all the 35 mm contact shots, because if I continued to do that I’d have too large a collection. I picked enough to fit on one or sometimes two pages and put the balance aside in an envelope which, after I am thru, I'll return to you for safekeeping. I didn't get thru, but I reached the point of complete satisfaction with sitting still (I don't do so when I write you letters for that long at once, because that seems like a creative undertaking, whereas sticking snapshots in an album is the kind of thing I shouldn't do for more than an hour at a time - I just didn't realize how many I had) and was really more tired than if I’d put in a full day of hard work. So I took a brief nap before going out at 4 pm to meet Keith Spurrier at the --the CBs, where I was to have dinner. [pg 3] I met Keith on Friday; he is from Memphis, went to the same prep school in Chattanooga (Baylor) as I did; I never knew him very well there (Doug and he are better acquainted than he and I) but his name was familiar and as soon as I heard it the other day when I asked one of the men at his CB unit who the Supply Officer there was, I knew that I had known him in Memphis. (The Spurriers are friends of the Erskines). It's a curious circumstance that he's been on Tinian since November; I've been to his unit dozens of times (that's where our projectionist and movie equipment used to come from twice a week); the unit chaplain has done a good deal for the school and visited us frequently; and generally speaking, we try to get to know all the Navy Supply Officers on the island. So it's little short of a mystery why I didn't discover him [pg 4] before now. (He's been to our officer’ mess to dinner, too, a guest of Andy Lee when the latter was Supply Officer here.) Keith is 27, tall, boyish and exceedingly healthy looking; has been married 5 years (to a Nashville girl he met at Vanderbilt), has a 19-months daughter. Was a personnel executive for General Motors in Trenton before the war, wants to live in the Memphis area when he goes back. We had the best meal I've eaten on the island (real steak, with some red showing) and went to see a Charlie Chan movie. Two or three drinks, of course, before dinner and after the movie. I had not really wanted to go out, having worked or at least been occupied in connection with work every night last week and being very eager to write you a good letter, but knew if I postponed it I might [pg 5] not get around to going for a long time. He is coming up here Thursday evening to dinner and the school movie. Sweetie, I've a lot of things to write you about; they'll have to wait till another letter, I guess. I love you, darling, with all my heart - Warren
