{Lutheran Theological Seminary and Waterloo College Waterloo, Ont.}, Dec. 23rd, 1923
Dear Mother:
Your kind letter of the 17th came duly to hand and was enjoyed as all your letters are. Please accept my unbounded thanks for the enclosure which it contained. This together with a cheque of Five Dollars from Clarence aided very materially in the purchase of presents for the children. In fact I do not see how, without these generous remittances, I would have been able to purchase the gifts requisite to give the kiddies a 'Merry Christmas'. But thanks to your generosity they will, in this respect, not fall far behind their allottance of other years, and I am sure they will all be quite happy. We set up our Christmas tree and trimmed it this morning. It is a beautiful symmetrical tree and with its decorations looks quite pretty. I wish you could see it. We received a box from Aunt Meda the other day containing caps for the boys, scarfs for the girls and a pair of fine silk stockings for Bonnie. Don sent a big box of dried codfish, which will come in good and prove useful, if not strictly speaking, ornamental. Max and Muriel, Don’s wife, sent each a box containing some things for the children. Mrs. Pastor Bockelmann sent Eileen a beautiful “Mamma doll”. So our Christmas tree, which we will light up to-morrow night will be well stocked with presents, and all the children will be well-remembered. The Waterloo Community tree will be held to-morrow afternoon at which all the children will receive a stocking filled
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with nuts, candies, etc. The Sunday School Christmas concert will take place on Christmas night. The children down to and including Eileen will take part in the singing, though none of them took recitations or special pieces. The children all did well on their public school examinations and passed with honours. Arthur stood 2nd in his room, Marion 5th and Herman 8th. Arthur’s teacher held him up before the room as a model. Among other things she said, “Here is a boy that has talents and know how to use them”. Arthur in telling us about it said “And I had to sit there and take it all in”. Some of the scholars said “Yes, but his father helps him”. Arthur who is quite independent, wouldn’t stand for this. He said, “I stood up and said, My father helps Carolus; he doesn’t help me.” Carolus made very good grades in the College examinations. He fell down a little on French and Algebra, but in spite of this made a general average of 81 on his thirteen subjects. Up to to-day it looked as though we were going to have an [?] and green Christmas. It was very mild all last week and the little ice that was on the lake in the park went out and everything was as soft and muddy as in April. But to-day it opened up snowy and has been snowing all day and we already have four or five inches of snow on the ground and it is still snowing. So it is likely we will have a “white Christmas” as usual. I am enclosing another installment of Mr. Jannau’s history. He wrote it in English, which he handles very well, though with some accent. He is a very good student and we are all pleased with the record he is making in the Seminary. When he gets through we propose to offer him for Slav Mission work. I suppose Mrs. Murray is with you by this time. I know you will enjoy her company. I wish you would kindly remember me to her. I hope Grace’s concert will prove a great financial success and will more than repay the expenses of their visit. Well, I must close. Wishing you one and all the very best of Christmas joy, I am
Most Sincerely yours,
[signed] Carroll H. Little.
[note on side of page]
Mr. Jannau’s age is 55.
