by Jean Little
Now Jane is determined to learn to figure skate. I wish I could, but just plain ordinary skating is more than I can manage. I always end up falling on my bottom. I’ll have to read her Hans Brinker.
Thursday, March 27, 1941
I am tired. We had choir practice tonight. Miss Little is so nice but she does make us do the songs over and over. “Shoulders back, Charlotte,” she says. “Chest out. Head up. Now sing out! We want everyone to hear you.”
I do my best, but I feel foolish with everyone staring at me. I wish she would not mention my chest. I have a verse to sing by myself though. So does Sam. She never has to tell him to “sing out” because he does it naturally. He never worries about the audience.
The bravest of the brave.
Saturday, March 29, 1941
We went to see Gracie Fields in Queen of Hearts at the Capitol. Dad really likes Gracie Fields. Sam and Jane’s father does too. We have a record of her. I like the one about her taking her harp to a party.
Sam told me proudly that the British sank a whole bunch of Italian cruisers and destroyers yesterday. Dad had already told me, but I did not say so.
Monday, March 31, 1941
Eleanor got a letter from Bertie. She said it was private. But I think she was teasing and she will let me read it after she has digested it.
April 1941
Tuesday, April Fool’s Day, 1941
Dad played a mean joke on us this morning. He called up that there was no school and then, just as we were starting to cheer, he said, “April Fool.” Jane actually laughed at him, which was bad. You should not encourage an adult to think he is funny — even when he is. It goes to their heads.
We gave in our War Savings Certificates at school and they raised more than five thousand dollars for The Cause! Our school raised the most. They are buying five mobile canteens with the money. It is a great idea because the drivers can take the food and stuff right to where it is most needed. The Mercury wrote it up, which is great because Sam and Jane can send the clipping home.
Wednesday, April 2, 1941
In the Guelph Mercury, it says we will have floods. I would like to live by the river but not to be flooded out.
George wrote and said he was so frozen his eyelashes stuck straight out in little spiky icicles. I wonder what the censor thought of that. George is overly proud of those eyelashes. Maybe the censor just laughed. Censors are people, after all.
Thursday, April 3, 1941
Choir practice again. Easter is just ten days away. It is late and I am going to bed. Homework plus choir is wearing.
Friday, April 4, 1941
It is getting warmer. I have a skipping rope all ready to hand to Jane the minute the sidewalks dry up enough. She can skip but she does not know how to turn Double Dutch. I will teach her. I can’t skate but I am a grand skipper. I also know all the rhymes. My own favourite when I was younger was,
Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear, turn around.
Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear, touch the ground.
Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear, say your prayers.
Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear, climb the stairs.
Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear, point your toe.
Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear, out you go.
I wonder if they skip to the same rhymes in England. Somehow I think not. But they do skip. Eleanor Farjeon wrote a story about it.
I also have marbles but I am not as good at them. I love the look of the marbles though, the ones that let the light through and have swirls inside. I like the way they clink together too. And I like having a full-to-bulging bag of them. They are as much a sign of spring as robins or tulips.
The world seems lovely here but Dad and Sam were talking tonight about the British having to retreat from Libya because of General Rommel’s troops. Dad said it was too bad Rommel wasn’t on our side. I guess he must be a good general.
Do they have tulips and skipping ropes in Libya?
Sunday, April 6, 1941
Today is Palm Sunday. I like the hymns, but it is sad to think of children waving palm branches and cheering when Jesus rode into Jerusalem. They didn’t know He would be killed. I wonder if He knew. I hope not.
Dad says He must have had strong hands to be able to control that unbroken donkey.
There are services all week in the evening. Eleanor goes but Mother doesn’t expect me to. I like singing in church but my feet get twitchy if the sermon is too long. I like the ministers who tell stories best. You forget the sermon before you get outside, but you remember the stories.
Wednesday, April 9, 1941
We made Easter cards at CGIT for old people who can’t come to church any more. We cut out flower shapes and pasted them on. I still have paste under my fingernails but my card looked lovely. Beth made one for her grandmother, who is one of the Shut-Ins. Imagine being known as a Shut-In.
They have started a group of Sea Cadets down in the boathouse at the bottom of the college hill. They will wear sailor suits and drill and learn to tie knots. I was starting to make fun of them until Mother looked at me and I remembered that George is a sailor. I even go around singing “All the nice girls love a sailor.”
I don’t think Sam will want to join. He is working on that airplane model they sent to him from England. We tiptoe past his door when we are at the Bennetts’. As soon as he is old enough, he’ll be off to join the RAF.
Thursday, April 10, 1941
Tonight is our last choir practice before Easter. We are singing seriously now. Sam sounds great. Miss Little thinks he is a jewel. I heard her say so.
I have a new dress but it will be covered up by my choir gown most of the time. I feel special in that choir gown though, like somebody in a play, so I don’t mind.
On Saturday we’ll dye eggs. Pixie is coming over, and Robbie and Sam, of course. Last year I felt almost too old, but not this year. I am glad. I really like doing them. When I lift them out and they are a beautiful new colour, I feel as though I have worked a miracle.
Good Friday is tomorrow and our Easter holidays start. We won’t have to go back to school for ten days. Lovely! Some families give their children Easter presents like watches or money. A lot get chocolate animals and candy eggs, but my parents say that is not what Easter is about.
They are right, I know, but I am glad we dye eggs and have new clothes for church.
Aunt Carrie and Grandpa will be coming home with us for dinner.
Good Friday morning, April 11, 1941
We are to sing in the Good Friday service this morning. We sing “Were You There?” And we join in the hymns.
The minister says Jesus could have chosen not to be crucified. I don’t see how anyone could be so brave.
Bedtime
The service was beautiful, so sad. But I am too tired to write much tonight.
I’ll just close by saying that Sam told me about a bombing raid our side made on Berlin. They hit the State Opera House. I wondered if that was like bombing Coventry Cathedral, but I kept quiet about it. There are some things that you can’t say if you don’t want to start a big argument.
Easter Sunday afternoon, April 13, 1941
Happy Easter, Diary.
We got up before dawn like the women in the Bible story and went to the sunrise service. We sang and it went well. The Senior Choir was not all there but Sam and I were.
Eleanor’s hat looked especially beautiful. It has a veil that covers her face and does up under her chin with a velvet ribbon. It is fuchsia-coloured with a little lavender flower on the side. She looks ravishing in it. I wish we could send Bertie a coloured picture. He’d say she looks smashing.
Janie loves her hat, especially the yellow ribbon that dangles down her back and the three violets in a little bunch on the brim. Mine is white straw and simple but Mother says it looks lovely with my hair. And I won’t be wearing it in the choir.
Christ is risen. Hallelujah!
Bedtime
It was a joyful day. George had sent us all cards he made. They are bril
liant. Mother set them at our places at dinner. Mine has a bluebird of happiness flying to me with a rose in its beak. Grandpa said it was very fitting, since I do fly around and make everyone smile. He is a sweetie, as Jane says.
And so, dear Diary, Happy Easter to you.
Monday, April 14, 1941
Jane is busy cutting out the picture of Royal, the Saint Bernard dog that was presented to the king. He is the mascot of some troop. I hope they don’t take the poor dog into battle. Jane is going to put his picture up on our wall. She wanted to put it next to my one of Peter Lawford. I made her start on her own wall. Royal is a handsome dog, but really!
You would think I would write more during these holidays, but I am too busy reading and celebrating spring and going for walks outdoors. Writing to George too, of course.
Tuesday, April 15, 1941
Today the boys and I were in the church with Mother, who was tidying away the Easter bouquets. She had gone downstairs for something, leaving us in the sanctuary. I was looking at the stained-glass windows when suddenly I got hit by a jet of water. I shrieked, of course. I could not believe it, but there stood Sam with Robbie’s water pistol. He had loaded it with water from the FONT! Mother was not back, thank goodness. He got me on the side of my head so my clothes were not wet much. Anyway, Mother did not notice. Sam was shocked at himself. Robbie laughed so hard he rolled on the floor. It is a good thing Mother did not come back until we calmed down.
It is another good thing that Jane was over at Pixie’s. She would have told on us for sure.
Thursday, April 17, 1941
That General Rommel who gave us trouble was pushed back at Tobruk by the British army. Dad says the African campaign is like a tug-of-war, first they win and then we do, back and forth. Sam says they are fighting in the desert. It must be torture to fight in such heat, and discouraging to win and then lose over and over.
Friday, April 18, 1941
Tonight the CGIT is going on a weekend camp. We will stay at Lake Bellwood and we won’t be back until Sunday. I am leaving you at home, dear Diary. I don’t want anyone reading you while my back is turned. We are going to have a marvellous time if we don’t get too cold.
Tuesday, April 22, 1941
The camp was lots of fun but I was too tired and too busy to write about it yesterday, because exams are coming up soon. We learned new songs and laughed a lot. We also went walking in the woods near there, although it was muddy. Beth Fielding’s boot got stuck in the mud and came off when I was hauling her out. We fell over laughing.
Wednesday, April 23, 1941
We have not had letters from the sailor boys. Dad reminded me that they are not on a pleasure cruise but fighting a war. If they do have spare time, they are probably in their bunks getting warm and catching up on missed sleep.
Sometimes letters get lost too and sometimes they come out of order.
Twenty-eight German prisoners of war escaped from the Lakehead. By now, they have all been captured. If they were still free, I would not be able to sleep because of imagining them coming in my bedroom window. I know, Diary. It’s ridiculous to be afraid of that.
Dad said he felt sorry for them trying to get to the States from the Lakehead. The Americans have not come into the War yet so the Germans must have thought they would be safe there. Dad says the prison should give them geography lessons, because the distances between towns in Canada are far greater than in Europe. I wonder how those men feel being here.
Saturday, April 26, 1941
We are studying hard for exams. And I have a stack of new library books. I’ll be back, Diary. But not for a day or two maybe.
Monday, April 28, 1941
I’m back!
We had to bring in a Current Event for school. I was already late so I grabbed the paper and cut out any old bit of war news that looked as though it would do. I got a bit about evacuating troops from Greece. There were 45,000 of them. I don’t really understand the significance of it. Probably Sam will be able to explain. He is much better at following war news than I am. Thank goodness Miss McColl picked other people to read theirs out.
I’m really mostly interested in George’s being safe. And his friend Bertie.
Wednesday, April 30, 1941
Sorry, but I am just not in a writing mood these days, Diary. I will soon recover. I must keep going until my birthday, as you know. Eleanor asks every so often.
May 1941
May Day, Thursday, May 1, 1941
It is May Day. In British books, the children gather primroses and dance around maypoles and lovely things. But Jane says she never did any of those things. She knew about them from books too.
Friday, May 2, 1941
Frolicland was announced in tonight’s paper. May 12 will be “Kiddie’s Day.” I hate being called a kiddie, but I like the rides and the cotton candy.
I have not had a letter from George for ages. None of us has. I try not to worry.
Saturday, May 3, 1941
Jane is becoming a good skipper and she can turn Double Dutch now. I remember when I used to have such trouble running in. I thought the rope might come down on me and cut me in two. Now it is SO simple.
Sunday, May 4, 1941
I am still not in a writing mood. George will have to wait and so will you, dear Diary. I wonder if Eleanor will examine every page and see when I skip or only write a line or two.
Tuesday, May 6, 1941
I almost put down that I had been busy writing to George, but it’s not true. I was busy reading. I got into the What Katy Did series. The first one was the best.
Wednesday, May 7, 1941
George wrote, but he did not say much. He sounded tired. He said Bertie likes hearing from Eleanor. I was glad to hear I had not gone through all that anguish for nothing. She certainly likes the letters Bertie writes. This one from George was written two weeks ago and there have been none since for anybody.
Thursday, May 8, 1941
We have to write an essay for English called “Me, Myself and I.” Well, that was the title I chose. Now I have to stop writing in you, dear Diary, and try to start the essay. The title sounded fine at first, but now my mind is a blank.
Friday, May 9, 1941
Sam came over before we finished breakfast. Jane was brushing her teeth, which was lucky because the war news was terrible! He had just heard a report on the radio. He could hardly get the words out. The Germans bombed London heavily again. Dad made Sam sit down before he went on and Mother went to keep Jane from coming downstairs for a few minutes. The House of Commons and the British Museum and Westminster Abbey were all damaged.
Dad turned on the radio and it was true. Those famous places were not demolished, but they have holes in their roofs. Sam started to tell us about going to the Museum with his class and he started to cry. I don’t think he is only minding about the famous places. He is wild with worry about his family.
Jane finished her teeth and then heard his voice and came running. Dad told her the news but toned it down. She was not fooled. She ran and flung her arms around Sam and he hugged her. I almost cried.
Nobody knew what to do next. We just sat there looking sick. Then Jane stood up and astonished everyone by saying we should go to school or we’d be late. I looked at her and thought about her father saying they were the bravest of the brave. He was right. It is strange. We know bombs are falling on London night after night, but it stops seeming real. Then actual places are named and suddenly it is not unreal any longer.
Saturday, May 10, 1941
We went to the movies this afternoon. I cried, but not really because the movie was so sad. I think sadness builds up deep inside us and then some little thing opens a door and lets it rush out. It is not a particular sadness but all the bits rolled into a ball of tears.
Sunday, May 11, 1941
Today was Mother’s Day. We would have brought her breakfast in bed but she hates crumbs in her covers, she said. We did set the table before she came down and she sat
at her place and let us wait on her. Jane poached her an egg and she had to use her knife to hack a bite off it. Jane watched her chewing and said, “I guess I cooked it a little too long.”
“It is delicious,” said my noble mother.
Lizby gave a little snort.
We put our money together and bought her spring flowers. She loved them.
We all wore flowers pinned on our coats when we went to church. I had a red tulip because Mother is alive. She wore a white one because her mother is dead. They don’t do it that way in England, Jane says.
Monday, May 12, 1941
Today we all went to Frolicland and rode on The Octopus. It was exciting until Robbie turned green and started to be sick. I screamed at them to stop and they did! He got off and threw up right away. They made us all get off and leave. I thought that was unfair. Sam said what Robbie did was a bad advertisement for the ride. Then we got laughing. Robbie only managed a weak smile though.
