May 15
dear brother and sister and children accept our heart felt sorrow at your great loss of willie but proud he done his duty faithfully and well and thank god he was not left to suffer all his life Charlie Mann had his too feet blowed of in the same battle and we may be in different parts of the world but will all come home in the morning when god calls us and you cannot sorrow as some knowing he was a good boy and god only took him home I know how hard it is to think he was so far away from home but he is where we will all be together he is with my will now and I often thank god will is there for it seems like I never was afraid to die since he went home 21 years ago emma was over today and she said if we onely could all be together but we were not thankful enough to god when we were so we deserve to have[?] to suffer your father said he expected it but it was no less sad to think of it mr Kearns says all we can do is pray to god to end the war the prist tells him we have a very cold spring the trees are not in blossom yet no groth till today is warm and seems [?] like we are going to have summer now things are an awfull price here now flour is 8 50 pound potatoes 5 a bag and meat 30 a pound the poor people in town do not know how the live butter is 50 cts a pound and eggs 40 and getting worse all the time and the wages not getting any higher in the town the farmers are paying 50 a month and if the crops are like last year the may take the farms but the wheat mostely looks good and the spring grain is all in mostly up and looks good the minister and wife were here for dinner Sunday and was telling them that you said potatoes were only 100 a basket[?] so she said him and her would have to go there the are onely just married are very nice we got willies death in paper day before emmas card had just sent the sugar and millie and me could do nothing but cry for we thought it would make it worse on you but Ed said you would know how it was plese accept the sympathy of trinty people and love of all the family

Lucy

Please excuse the pencil