The Eleanor Roosevelt Papers, Digital Edition > My Day
My Day by Eleanor Roosevelt

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WASHINGTON, Tuesday—I returned to Washington yesterday afternoon in time for dinner and was very happy to find a number of friends staying in the house. I was able to reach a friend of my daughter-in-law's, Mr. John W. Herbert, who happens to be here from Fort Worth, Texas, so he also joined us. After a pleasant, chatty meal, we saw the last movie in which Carole Lombard played, called: "To Be Or Not To Be." It was an exciting spy story. I only wish that in reality things could be done as smoothly and as easily as they are in the movies!

It was curious on the flight down to see more and more snow as we approached Washington. Even today, with a cloudless sky overhead, there still are patches of snow along the sidewalks and over our White House lawns. I only hope the little spring flowers coming up, were not hurt. The storm seems to have brought down a number of branches from our trees, but no great damage is done, so it cannot have been as severe as some of the pictures I saw in the papers made me think.

Our magnolias are out and I see some forsythia actually in bloom, as well as buds on many trees and shrubs.

I am tremendously interested in the modern embroidery brought to me by Mr. and Mrs. Owen Lattimore. They have now sent me the letter which accompanied this embroidery, which is a gift from Madame Chiang Kai-Shek. The letter is so full of confidence and hope for the future that I want to share it with you and, therefore, quote it here.

"Headquarters of the Generalissimo of China Chung King, Szechuan 12 January, 1942

"Dear Mrs. Roosevelt,

These eight immortals gladly stepped out of their frame on a Chung King wall to fly to you. I hope you will bid them welcome and find a place for them in your home. They wish to assure you, as they have assured me many times during these years of bloodshed and suffering, that the world of war and woe is but a passing thing, however necessary it may be, for over the edge of the horizon lies a path leading to universal harmony and world brotherhood.

With all good wishes, Yours sincerely Mayling Soong Chiang (Madame Chiang Kai-Shek)"

E.R.

(COPYRIGHT, 1942, BY UNITED FEATURE SYNDICATE, INC.)


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About this document

My Day by Eleanor Roosevelt, April 1, 1942

Roosevelt, Eleanor, 1884-1962
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Digital edition created by The Eleanor Roosevelt Papers Project The George Washington University 312 Academic Building 2100 Foxhall Road, NW Washington, DC 20007

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Digital edition published 2008, 2017 by
The Eleanor Roosevelt Papers Project

Available under licence from the Estate of Anna Eleanor Roosevelt.

Published with permission from the Estate of Anna Eleanor Roosevelt.

MEP edition publlished on June 30, 2008.

TEI-P5 edition published on April 28, 2017.

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Transcription created from a photocopy of a UFS wire copy of a My Day column instance archived at the Franklin D. Roosevelt Library.
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