Peter, Marcy, Jed, and Jay

Three-page handwritten letter on three-hole-punch lined paper.

On the envelope, the address section starts out “to George V. Hartman on the occasion of his birthday”

my goodness, you Hartmans can be wierd, sometimes. Take your son, f’rinstance. He goes on an ecstatic xxx dance, sometime last month, Look What I Found For My Father’s Birthday, wow, jump up & down, send for the medal, small apoplexy when they finally (last week) send receipt saying “the medal will be sent to us” instead of to you as per his very careful directions, then send you the “prospectus” (=ad) for it, no mention even that it’s been ordered for you, let alone that it’s going to take 4 weeks…

I kind of think it a bit wierd for a company to make something and proclaim it to be a collectors item, but then that’s what the post office does all the time. I always wonder, tho, what about its intrinisic value? How about saving stamps because they’re pretty, or that medal for its workmanship & symbolism, personal or otherwise, instead of stressssing that some day it’ll be a Collectors’ Item??? I guess in this case that’s only a secondary point, but xxx it just struck me that I’ve seen that point made in advertising quite a bit.

Dave writes (amazing in itself) from his new home that he?/you/they?/we? will be around sometime in the last week of march. Hopefully in both directions. So let me tell you some of what we’re planning—

Friday night the 24th will be a Johrei meeting our house—a great honor, the minister from the L.A. Church will be here, really an exciting time. we wish you could be here on that day (evening) in particular. Sunday we’ll probably have Jed’s Birthday Party, outside (I hope I hope) for all (25, maybe) the courtyard kids & a few more. How many? many, many, many… we’ll have cupcakes & feature Ice Cream made on the spot. Then I may have to do some more for a Nursery School party on the day of it (Tuesday) tho I hope not. Nursery School is 9—11:30, & I have to work there Friday mornings. That whole week is registration, enrollment, etc, so perhaps Peter won’t be too busy.

But I’m being very active in the local election campaign, which x will be elected on 11 April. So I’ll be a little busy, but then if you weren’t coming at that time it’d be the long lost Emperor of Mars dropping by for tea on the day before the election and he only takes tea from purple paper-maché cups, have to be hand-made the day before, and will only visit houses where all the walls are green and there are nine meetings you have to go to to get ready for him, which is how it is generally around here, so please don’t think will be even a little too busy to be delighted to see you whenever you come.

Okay? okay.

we love you

last week Joaquin decided he wanted to go to “Granpa house—Koma" (Tacoma, wassa matta, you don’t unnerstan English) & discussed it at length (in those identical 3 words) for hours & hours

So. Happy Birthday

P, M, J & J