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

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NEW YORK, Tuesday—Here am I in New York City waiting to meet the steamer tomorrow morning on which our youngest son, John, will return from Europe. I much prefer to meet incoming steamers than to go and say good-bye to people. There is a pleasant sense of anticipation as you wait at the dock and watch the steamer coming in. You scan all the faces and I never recognize any one from the pier, but when I give it up and start towards the gangplank some one usually says to me: "Why there is the person you are looking for." I shall do all this tomorrow and probably spend some time before hand telephoning to find out when the boat will actually dock! Then there is always the excitement of hearing all the first impressions of the returning traveller and the answering of all the questions on home news which is never as complete as it should be in letters. Oh yes, meeting steamers is very pleasant!

John is the first of the family to get back, but he is planning to do a number of things before college opens. He is rather more methodical than some of my other children and I think likes a little more time to get everything in order.

Franklin, Junior, will be entering Law School at the University of Virginia, but being married he will not have to worry about his own household arrangements.

Our changes of climate seem to come very suddenly and after the very warm days we had our two cool days have been invigorating, though I don't like quite such violent changes. The purple color is leaving our swamp and here and there as I drove along this morning, I could see a few leaves taking on their autumn color. I think that autumn is perhaps the most beautiful season that we have in this part of our country, but I can not help grieving at the first signs which spell the end of summer, because they also spell the end of a kind of life which I greatly enjoy. Sometime I am going to live in the country altogether, and only go to cities now and then! From my point of view cities are places one should visit but never live in. However, I know that that feeling is not shared by everyone, for I remember a friend telling me that she found it hard to sleep in the country because there was so much noise. The katydids and the crickets made her nervous. I have other friends who find summer pleasant enough in the country, but who could not imagine wanting to live there through all the seasons of the year. To me each season has its special charm. November is a little depressing at times, because the whole countryside seems to take on a melancholy look, but by December the cold, crisp days are cheerful again, and I love the leafless trees against the clear blue sky of winter. This country life of mine is still in the distance however, but I like to dream about it.

I thought I might try to go to the theatre tonight but my conscience overcame me and I am staying at home and doing a little work instead.

E.R.


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About this document

My Day by Eleanor Roosevelt, September 8, 1937

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

  • Brick, Christopher (Editor)
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  • Black, Allida M. (Editor)
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  • Binker, Mary Jo (Associate Editor)
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  • Alhambra, Christopher C. (Electronic Text Editor)
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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.

XML master last modified on June 9, 2017.

HTML version generated and published on May 3, 2022.

Transcription created from a photocopy of a draft version of a My Day column instance archived at the Franklin D. Roosevelt Library. My Day column draft dated September 7, 1937, FDR Library, Hyde Park, NY
TMsd, 7 September 1937, AERP, FDRL