As a young girl, Mom had a pen pal, her Aunt Margaret Regan.

Known to non-family members as Sister Amabilis, she was only 16 when she entered religious life. It was September 1943 and Mom was 13 when she wrote this to her aunt, who wasn’t permitted to visit her family very often.

It was September 1943; her older second-cousin Eddie was on furlough from the Army during World War II.

Eddie wrote on the back of the photo, “Quit laughing Joan & Bunny. I can’t help it if I ‘ain’t’ good looking. Love, Eddie.”

Mom included a new poem in her letter to her aunt:

Autumn’s Call

The gentle west wind now is calling,
When the autumn leaves are falling;
While bonfires blaze in the autumn eves –
And we hear the crackle of smoldering leaves.

Acorns and hickory nuts on the ground,
Soon by excited squirrels will be found
And hidden away in an old hollow tree
Or some other place of secrecy.

Birds will sing at the break of dawn,
When dew drops are sparkling on the lawn;
And the old green frog on his lily pad
Will be croaking away, as he did when a lad.

Please come with me while the time is right,
For the nuts are falling and the leaves are bright,
To the country lanes and the meadows all –
And be ready to answer autumn’s call.

This photo (quite possibly also from September 1943) shows Mom on the right, with her little brother, Ray. That’s their sister Bunny second from the left. The tall girl with the buttoned coat is cousin Helen Ann, and that’s little cousin Betsy on the end.

Mom’s love of autumn only increased as she grew up. The crisp, cool air invigorated her step and the taste of cider refreshed her soul. Dad still has some of the gourds she collected over the years; the ones that didn’t rot gradually dried from the inside out to become autumn’s version of maracas.

Mom’s letters to her aunt included many poems. They offer an insight into what was going on inside her sensitive heart and mind as she grew into a teen in the 1940s in New Haven, Connecticut. We’ll share some with you in upcoming posts.

“Autumn’s Call” © 1943 Joan Cassidy. All rights reserved.

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