p.

L.C.3. Monday 15 Sep. Major J.H Massey
6 Palestinian Coy. The Buffs.
M.E.F.

My own darling Barbara

I am writing this with the idea
of it reaching you somewhere near to
October 5th - the day when our darling
Lisa would have been 5. It is also
the day on which I left you last
year to come out here. And so we
are now coming round again to our
succession of sad anniversaries. I do not
know that I can do very much good
by writing - but I wanted you to
know that I shall be thinking of
her & of you on this day. And
remembering every minute of Oct 5th
in 1936, when we first saw our sweet
darling. And I shall look at your
photographs & hers & tell her that
we shall always remember her &
love her as our darling Lisa, as long
as we live - & no matter how
many children we have & how
happy we may be.

Try, sweetheart, & remember the
happiness she had in those
short 3 1/2 years, the joy she gave
to you & to me -& do not torture
yourself with her short illness &
what might have been if only this
& that had not happened.

But it is impossible not to think
of her aged 5. What a lovely &
delightful little person she would have
been & such a wonderful little friend
friend & companion to you & sister
to Maxie.

It is difficult to write very much about
her - I always feel like breaking down
& so hopeless. And just that I want
to lie down with you & hold you
very close to me, & without saying
very much.

As you were saying in your letter,
there is no doubt at all that we
brought her up in the right & only
way. a young thing must have
freedom to develope & make her
own character & temperament.

Practically all chldren you meet
are dull & shy & uninteresting, & so
dependent on their mothers. Lisa