(The author of this letter, Nancy Paterson, was the daughter of the family that owned the house in which the Todds lived in Castle Douglas, Scotland. In 2004, I went to 88 Cotton St, Castle Douglas and spoke to occupant, a lady named Anne. She said she had moved into the property after Joanna Todd (known as Aunty Dan) died in 1946 and that it originally belonged to the Paterson family).
Sunday, 27th October, 1946
My Dear Bella,
I expect Mrs Forsyth will have written to you and told you that dear old Dan passed over on Wednesday 16th October and was buried in the family ground in Castle Douglas on Friday 18th.
I was out at the cemetery and there were several lovely floral wreaths on the grass. I don’t think we should mourn too much for her, as latterly I think life would not be much of a pleasure for her as being unable to move much and her eyes bad, she would not care to be dependent on others for help. At this time of the year you’ll be enjoying all the lovely greens of spring and the promise of warmer days to come. We have had a very wet summer this year. Very little sunshine but plenty of rain and not much heat. However to compensate October has been a lovely month with sunshine and no rain whatever so that helps to shorten our winter time. This afternoon Dad and I were out in the car for a run and it was just beautiful. The sun was shining through the trees dressed in their autumn tints of yellow, gold, russet and brown shown to advantage against the dark green of the Scottish Fir. It’s frosty new in the mornings and whenever there is any wind the leaves come tumbling down rustling at our feet. How are your two girls getting on (Mae and June). They will be growing quickly these days and I do hope that you are all well and free from trouble. How are all the girls now? My Dad keeps well and is able to go for short runs in his car yet but looks forward to the weekend when I can taken him for a longer drive. They are too tiring for him to be at the wheel but he does enjoy the country in its various seasons. I had a lovely holiday in August, was away down in England four miles from Henley on Thames where the famous boat races are held. It was so nice with my old friends down there again, as I hadn’t seen them since before the war and one old lady is now 95 and still able to get up each day. Then I was at Watford in Herts and spend a day in London and my the centre of London around Fleet St and Ludgate Hill did get a terrible battering. Huge squares of houses, shops and offices simply just don’t exist now and are wide open spaces or car parks. We who never were bombed have so much to be thankful for. I’ll close now
