Katherine Elizabeth (Betty)
Taylor Wells Correspondence
An Electronic
Summary of her Letters to Simone Calvet, 1992-1995
Original Source: Katherine
Elizabeth (Betty) Taylor Wells Papers, MS 0598
Publication Date: June, 2005
Responsibility:
Creating of machine-readable text by oumarou-hamadou
February, 2005
Translated from French to English and summarized by oumarou-hamadou,
Fall 2004
Header created by Shaoping Moss,
April, 2005
Text encoded by oumarou-hamadou and
Shaoping Moss,
May - June, 2005
Text proof-read by Jennifer Gunter King, June, 2005
Stylesheet designed by Shaoping Moss,
April, 2005
Web page last updated by King,
September 2, 2005
Copyrights: Copyright 2005.
1992 April
Simone was rushed in to the hospital in emergency on March 25th for a
second surgical operation. While recovering at the hospital, Simone receives mail informing her
that Betty has urinary track problems. She indicates that she has received Betty's letter about
her husband's 80th birthday. Therese will send out Simone's happy birthday to Betty at the new
address she provided.
August 1-4
Betty feels sorry for causing trouble to Simone with her mailing. Betty
mistyped her zip code in confusion which lead Simone's letter to be sent to a different address
in Brunswick. She thanks Simone for her comforting notes. Betty speculates on her upcoming Dr
appointment on October 9th when she would start a second medial treatment. She finds it "boring
but no pain".
November 6
Betty visited her Dr who seemed very satisfied with her condition and
doesn't want to talk about chemo therapy. She could live a normal life he said and plans to see
her again on January 19th. Betty celebrated her husbands 80th birthday by going on two antique
cruise ships on the coasts of Maine. They made a quick stop in Canada and visited to the
province of Quebec.
1993 Feb. 7th
Betty has managed to put Simone's picture in a picture frame and
will soon be hung in her bed room. Betty finds Simone "so beautiful, in good humor and
gracious" with no sign of poor health. She has purchased an oriental wood frame for the
"precious oeuvre" that she will hang up above the Simone elegant "Princess" when she will
finish with the interior decoration Betty doesn't have cancer and that chemo therapy s
unnecessary but she will see the Dr every 3 month. Jacqueline has done a lot of work on the
translation and Betty feels ashamed for not doing it herself. She received phone calls from a
British couple set to visit them on 12/6/93. Betty concludes that this is a "beautiful fruit"
of their annual correspondence towards Christmas season.
Feb. 20th
Simone enjoyed very much the birds on the stamps and thanks Betty for
her "très jolie" card with colorful thoughts. She is very sensitive to Betty's kindness and
fidelity. She feels honored by having her picture of the copy of the "Chateau d'Azay le Rideau"
framed. Simone is extremely happy about Betty's health good news. She wishes Betty a happy
spring with beautiful days spent with her family and grand children. Still interested in
"aquarelle", she takes a class every Tuesday and welcomes her very capable 20 years old new
professor. Simone is the doyenne among her younger classmates. She is learning to cope with the
habit of being the oldest-not always too drolly but one has to take it in. Simone is also
learning the fables of La Fontaine as a way to keep her mind busy. She wants Betty to write her
phone number in her next letter so that they can have a phone conversation.
April 3rd 9 am
Just finished talking to Betty over the phone, Simone feels very
emotional after all those years without hearing her friend's voice. She compliments Betty on
her personal command of the French language after a surprise phone call. Simone worries she
might have disturbed Betty's sleeping pattern but at the same time she is very happy about
their conversation and thanks Betty for the birthday card she had sent. Tomorrow evening Simone
will be 80 years old. She had had an eye surgery on her right eye on March 24th and waits to
have another one on her left eye by the end of May.
April 3rd
Betty apologizes to Simone for having hung up the phone and hopes to be
forgiven with good heartedness. She was very happy to hear Simone's voice but the echo made the
tone of her voice seem very far away and silent prompting her to hang up the phone. She is
putting their correspondence in order to later send them to her college-either in the French
department or at the library in the archives. "True of True" She searched her garage built in
1976 to get rid of clutters and found the album containing all of her letters to and from her
parents. Also she has found a picture of her and Betty in Besançon. Thousand kisses.
July 3rd (received July 10th)
Betty worries about the silence between them. She
pleas for a bit of news about Simone's health from Therese. She hopes to get Simone's phone
number from Therese whom she would like to host in her house if she take a trip to the US or
Canada. Betty hosted a British couple earlier in June. It is possible if everybody forget about
the inconveniences related to hosting guests. Betty has passed all of her letters from 1928
over to her colleague along with the copies of her responses. She is shocked by the mistakes in
those letters. Included in the collection are Simone's poems, Betty's letters to her parents in
1933-34 all stored at her college, Mount Holyoke, where the archivist is very, very
sympathetic. Thousand kisses.
July 5th (received July 10th)
Simone excuses herself for not following up with
news about her health since their last phone conversation. She thinks about Betty but she has
been "always lazy" to write. She finds letters to be more practical even though it 5 or 6 days
for them to get through. She wanders if Betty has been able to find most of their former
letters of correspondence. Simone has found her photo albums with few letters most of them lost
due the sinister and chaotic days of the war. Most of her pictures have survived the war,
natural disasters and others tribulations. Simone reminisces about the death of her husband 4
years ago on July 7th 1989. She has to organize her life as a widow. Her children are near by
and she visits Therese and Henri then Jacqueline in Bordeaux. Her eye surgeries have successful
and she continues to drive both of her cars; the new one she acquired recently and the 17 years
old one. Hopes to hear more from Betty. Thousand kisses.
September 27th
Betty is on a long trip on the west coast of Terre-Neuve, a wild
countryside with new roads. Betty is delighted that Simone remembers their habits of traveling.
They are trying to escape from all the tragedies: her family suffered a tragedy with the death
of young cousin of leukemia and another cousin who has been hospitalized. Thousand kisses.
December 7th
Betty's husband poems attempt to celebrate the season of
correspondences, friendships, wishes for their friends and their extended family members. She
will send the poems nor the pictures to Simone because she can't translate them but tells
Simone to not cry…They have been just slowed down. Her gall bladder is healed and her next Dr
appointment is in May. She hopes to have the courage call. She wishes Simone a joyful
Christmas, a happy New Year and paradise at the end of her dreams.
Christmas 1993
Jacqueline Calvet translated the Betty's husband's poem from
English to French. Christmas card; an illustration of "une rue de Venise" from Simone wishing
Happy new Christmas and happy new year to Betty and her family.
1994 February 22nd
Simone worries about the lack of update on Betty's health
since her brief note before Christmas stating her good health condition and her upcoming Dr
appointment in May. Simone has had a lot of, heavy rains and inundations. The snow has lasted
very long to the pleasure of skiers. She is recovering for her surgeries but she is worried by
her left eye which might have Glaucoma. She would not lament about her health and continues
working on aquarelle. She is starting to use oil paint. Therese and Henri are making progress
at their jobs. Jacqueline is semi retired and regrets her contacts with her young students to
whom she dedicated her life so much as a single person. She focuses more on the English
language.
March 3rd received on the 18th
Simone tells Betty how much happy she is after
their phone conversation. It was emotional for Simone to hear Betty so clearly like if she was
sitting next to her. Her 80 years seem are already behind her since she will be 81 in April. To
Simone it seems to like time goes by a lot faster than it used to be when they were younger.
Beside her memory, her health relatively satisfactory and she is being with laser beams to
correct her retina. Simone advises Betty to take precaution with her heart calm down about her
gal bladder. Betty's husband has done a marvelous job with their old pictures assembled for her
80th birthday. Simone wishes happiness to Betty and hopes to receive pictures of their summer
vacation.
March … th ???
Betty fantasizes about Simone day and night and mimics her
expression. Simone looks like a Sainte with a good sense of humor. Betty reminisces about her
nervousness when she called her husband from Toulouse in 1966. She is excited about calling
Simone to whom she explains her phone number; deconstructing the area code. She counts the
hours leading to Simone's birthday and realize that it is 3 hours instead of 2 because of the
day light savings. She advises Simone to call in the afternoon and not Friday. Their house
keeper Heidi Poisson arrives soon. Betty predicts they would be looking at the horizon through
their large windows. She guesses what time would be better for Simone and suggest the weekend
in the evening or after 11 pm. Betty wonders if she could finish the translation of her
husband' poem and congratulates Jacqueline. Again thousand kisses.
March 15th
Simone is excited to write so that their letters do not criss cross
each other because she received Betty's letter almost at the same time that hers would have
gotten to Betty: this proves their mutual love. Jacqueline did a great job translating Betty's
husband's poem without altering the meaning in French. Simone admires Betty and her husband's
take on the good side of life with courage and philosophy. Inspired, Simone tells Betty about
her episode with a bug she found on the carpet in her bedroom. She would have never told this
story to anybody outside of her family but Betty understands her. A hug for Betty and
compliments for her husband on his poem.
March 20th
First day of spring. Betty is delighted to receive Simone's letter.
Her "poor' husband tried to understand the bug story but could not. Her oral translation did
touch only the superficial aspects on the story. She will send another copy of husband to
Simone just in case the first one is lost. The reception of their phone conversation was very
clear and she will check out the calling rate then schedule another conversations. Betty
reminisces about her adoptive mother's comment in 1966 on her improved communication then it
was in 1933-34. She fears the opposite at this moment. She spent a week trying to call Simone
until she sought help from the operator who instructed her to dial 001 first. Then Saturday
Simone wasn't home but finally she there she was on Sunday around 1:30 pm. She had a mix of
emotions and uttered words not knowing how to introduce herself. She recalls her visit with her
psychiatrist and her misfortune after she locked her keys inside her car. Betty's husband
suffers from her "niaiserie" (foolishness) but he doesn't yell at her for not learning. She
compliments Simone on her writing despite her ailing vision and cites an acquaintance of theirs
who drives with one eye. Betty had a scare of going blind from an outbreak of chicken pox in
December '93. She is healed but wears a large frame to hide the little scars on her face. Her
gall bladder works without defect.
March 22nd
Back home from the post office where she shipped out Simone's
birthday party Betty receives another letter from Simone mailed out the 15th containing
Jacqueline's translation. Betty husband studies his poems in French; he is stunned.
Congratulates Jacqueline. Betty describes the effects of a power outage on her work schedule,
her house and the surrounding counties. She finds it bizarre that the phone service works in
that type of situation.
March 20th (same letter continued)
Betty continues to work on her translation of
the poem. She admits her ignorance of insects .She thanks Simone for telling her the story
about insects and would be delighted if Simone could write about it in her poems.
April 6th
Simone is very to happy to hear Betty's voice wishing her a Happy
birthday over the phone. She admires Betty's mastery of the French and comment on her courage
to follow her rehabilitation program at the hospital. They have similar programs in France too.
Jacqueline is happy to translate the poems and she loves English despite her career as a German
teacher. She works on getting a Bachelors in English. Therese and her husband are on vacation
for Simone's 81st birthday. Due to her poor vision Simone's thinks she will stop driving. The
traffic is heavier in Canderan where green neighborhoods are replaced by huge non decorative
tall buildings. To cope with long winter's days, Simone walks everyday and practices "soft"
gymnastics with instructions from magazines. She loves Betty and tells her that she is her best
friend.
May 12th
Betty rushes to tell Simone the good news about her clean gal bladder.
She writes inside her car while waiting for the postman to come by. She has just visited Dr
Lemieux, a heart surgeon, because she thought she had symptoms but she passed the stress test.
From Simone's last letter Betty has the impression that her friend is facing a crisis which
requires courage from her. It is coming. Thousand kisses.
May 18th
Simone apologizes for not getting back to Betty about the good news of
her health condition. Simone was busy preparing for the art show her which requires more energy
and personal commitment to ensure its artistic success. Her group work paid off with a large
number of visitors who admired their paintings. Simone is the oldest and is nonetheless very
proud; she finds it to be a good way to lessen the weigh of aging. Simone plans on calling
Betty the night of her 80th birthday to wake her up in the middle of the night. She is very
affectionate and values their friendship very much. Betty is among the few friends of her age
still alive. Simone doesn't find her many friendships with younger people rich with common
memories.
August 5th received the 27th
Jacqueline joins Simone to their affections to Betty
and her husband. Simone writes in the midst of a long summer heat. She heard of a wild fire
larger the France in Washington state .She would like to have more news about Betty. Therese
and her husband are back from a vacation in Lot et Garonne. Where they enjoyed hiking, bike
riding along side country trails with no telephone. There and her husband will take Henri to
Arcachon, a seaside resort, for his surfing lesson. Jacqueline will live in later in September
to go to Arcachon. Simone has witnesses 3 marriages of her nieces and nephews, the birth of
2babies and also the death of her sister in-law Raymonde (her age) throughout the year, Simone
wonders if Betty and her husband will go on vacation at the end of the summer.
August 27th
Betty acknowledges the letter written on the 5th of the month. The
letter left there in the hay basket on the porch since Saturday the 20th. The family was busy
preparing Kit's arrival on Monday for her only vacation with Aaron and John. They celebrate the
departure of and old friend, a divorced lady they support as an antiquarian in Portland. Betty
packed reading books to better her French but she doesn't have time to read. Betty wants to
have Jacqueline, Therese and Henri's phone numbers and addresses to stay in touch with them.
Betty and her husband seem in good health with monthly visits to the psychiatrist and once a
semester visits to other doctors. Recent detection of aneurysm in Betty's husbands liver and
they will find out more on September the 7th. He is also an arthritic and has recently joined a
group of young gardeners. Other Saturdays he builds castles for the little ones- a day to cut
off dead tree branches.
September 7th
Simone and Jacqueline are on vacation in Arcachon. The atmosphere of
the town is very relaxing; its architectural structures and landscape are vivid reminders of
the Mediterranean with its palm trees, cactuses and other exotic flowers. Simone hopes all I
swell with Betty and her husband and that she too is planning for her summer vacation.
September….
Betty has just finished a phone conversation with Simone who has been
lucky with her call; she could have missed Betty who was getting out the room to do laundry.
There is no washing machine in the grandfather's house built in 1890. She gives Simone her
phone number and suspects suggest for her to call later at night or on weekends for cheaper
rates. Betty is happy to know that Simone is still driving. She reminisces about the time when
she ignored her doctor's advice to wear eye gasses and feel lucky she was never caught by the
police.
September 25th
Betty is happy about the card from Arcachon. She is emotionally
moved by Jacqueline's expression of friendship. She asks for Jacqueline's address and phone
number. Betty and her husband are very impressed by the skillful translation of his poems by
Jacqueline. It has been raining for the 3rd consecutive day and Betty worries for their friends
who organize a fair in September every year and hope for a good weather to attract a crowd of
50.000 people.
October….
Betty informs Simone about Andrea Sullivan, a junior college student at
Mt Holyoke, interest to write her honors paper on their letters of correspondence and pictures.
The student will visit Betty on the 11, 12, and 13th of November to conduct an interview with
her. She sets up a time to call Simone on November the 12th at 3 pm. Betty describes their
traveling itineraries in the mid-west and the out west. It seem like France can within the
borders of the state of Texas. Betty prefers the scenery of familiar landscape while Dick who
is born in Utah prefers seeing different landscapes He has been almost everywhere and remember
visiting California as a child and later went to Japan for the account of the textile industry
he represents. He even wanted to go to France but it is certainly a dream.
October 20th received the 24th
Simone has realized that their letter have crossed
each other once again despite her promise to reply quickly to the beautiful post card with 3
flying birds. Simone is impressed that their correspondences have sparked interest in a junior
college student to investigate documents and photos of young high school students of older
generations whose time span covers the pre WW2 are as well as the post War era. It is fortunate
that they have kept their letters and that they have been able to reunite in 1966. Simone still
has pictures of Betty during her short stay in Besançon in 1932 with Andrée Chavanne who passed
away from cancer in 1975. Simone passed on Betty's message to see Jacqueline in November but …
Jacqueline, like Simone, is scarred of air planes.
November 6th
Betty has typed 2 paragraphs of Simone's letter asking for Andrea's
questions to be sent to her in writing. Betty invokes youth foolishness to explain Andrea
prompt questions on their personal lives. Andrea and her mother spent the night at Betty's and
she doesn't know anything about Andrea's father. She is a MHC student from western
Massachusetts who certainly get her Cum Laude degree even MAGNA.
November 25th
Simone explains the evasive nature of her answers to Andrea's
questions about her religion; she didn't want to spend Betty's money with a prolonged phone
conversation. She reiterates her demand that Andrea's questions be sent to her in writing so
that she can answer them at her best. Simone works on an art project thanks to the
encouragement of her dynamic art teacher. She recognizes the help of the house who helps her
out...
December 14th
Betty wishes happy New Year to Simone and tells her not to call
around Christmas time because she will be at Kit's place. Betty hopes to have phone
conversation with Jacqueline.
1995 January 2nd
Simone remembers Betty telling in 1966in Toulouse that her
birth date is between Christmas and New Years Eve. She sent this card and wishes Betty a happy
birthday. Simone enjoys the picture of Betty and her husband.
January 23rd received on 28th
Simone has mailed back Jacqueline's translation of
Betty's husband's poem and acknowledges the heavy rains in France.
February 17th
Simone has found Betty's correspondence for the last years. She
suspects that Jacqueline has replied to Betty's husband in French despite the fact she is
taking an English course once a week. Simone passes the home address for Jacqueline and Therese
to Betty.
March...
Post card for Simone showing some islands next to Caseo Bay the town
where Betty lives. She thanks Simone for finding her correspondence but admits that she didn't
have time to read it yet.
March 4th
Betty is worried about Simone after receiving an alarming letter from
her friend. She got her husband's permission to call Simone but the line was busy. She
congratulates Simone on her physical beauty from the instant photo card. Betty is back on track
with her fitness routine. She skips Friday session to baby sit for a high school girl with 2
kids who has "adopted" them. She lives in a trailer on a small piece of their property that
they sold to her. She the daughter of a German lady and a French American who run away and got
married.
March 16th
Simone thanks Betty for her fidelity willingness to call on her
birthday- April 4th. Simone realizes how far she's come and can't believe it and admits her
fear of boredom. In France too they adjust their clocks on the last Saturday in March. Simone
needs medical attention for her digestive system requiring 48 hours stay in a clinic for exams.
She doesn't take care of her garden anymore and it is attended by a gardener several times a
year. Finding her correspondence is made hard because of 14 consecutive moves, sometimes
involuntary during the war and even after…
March 21st
Three weeks after her major internal surgery Betty is able to run on
errands. On her way back, she finds Simone's letter in the mail box by their private driveway.
She is disappointed tat her post card to Simone has been destroyed in the mail. Betty is
nervous about Aaron, her 14 years old grand son, planned trip to Ireland in April.
April 1st
Apologetic letter from Betty at her husband's suggestion. She feels he
thinks he knows everything and her not. Andrea Sheehan has finished her work on friendship and
she will visit Betty accompanied by her brother and sister along with her mother (widowed or
divorced). Andrea will graduate in May before the scheduled reunion for class of 1935. Betty
reveals her birth date as 12/23/1913. She hesitates to announce it because her friends have too
much to do in the fall.
April 7th
Simone is relieved by the outcome of Betty's operation and expresses her
fascination with the astrocopic surgery procedures
May 6th
Simone praises Betty's courage to keep up with her physical
rehabilitation after her heart surgery. Simone has just finished with her medical checkout.
Henry and Therese's 25th wedding anniversary. Simone is still working with the younger
generation of artists from her painting class.
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