[No envelope. Children of Susanna Bates Dickey referred to: George Dickey, Agnes (Dickey) McKeen, Nettie (Henrietta) Dickey and Lizzie (Dickey) Clarkson. Grandson Aubrey Archibald.]
Centre Musquodoboit May 10th 1910
Dear John and Janet
I have planning to write to you ever since I heard of the baby’s illness but it seems as though my time has been so taken up that I could not spare a minute– and to-night–I do not know how to write–l have such sad news to tell for we have just returned from laying our dear mother away for the resurrection.
I think George told me that they wrote you she was not well but none of us thought that the end was so near. She had been very frail all the spring but we thought that with the warm weather she would get strong again. I did not know that she was worse than usual until I got a letter by Saturdays coach from George saying that “she had suddenly become worse and that they had sent for the Doctor but he had not yet arrived.” When the Doctor came he gave them no hope as he said it was the first stage of pneumonia and that she had not strength to throw it off. She failed so rapidly all day that George became alarmed and fearing he had not made his letter urgent enough he drove up for me. She was conscious for about an hour and a half after I got there and talked some to me though not much as she was suffering so much. It was my forty-fifth-birthday and she spoke of it and told me on what a stormy day I arrived in this world. Her mind was just as clear as ever and I don’t think she realized herself how near the end was altho’ she knew that the Dr. said she could not get better.
Her mind went back to the old hard-working days when her family was all about her as she told me that Friday night she dreamed that she was baking bread all night. Father said she woke him about five o’clock and told him she wished he would put some wood in the stove. He asked her if she were cold and she said “No, but my bread is in the oven.” She seemed better than usual Saturday morning but about nine o’clock took a severe pain in her side and she suffered severely till about half-past seven P.M. when she went to sleep with her face resting on her hand and in that position passed quietly away just as the clock was striking twelve.
I helped her to turn on her left side just before she went to sleep and fixed her pillows and asked her if she was comfortable and she answered Yes that was all right and never spoke again.
The years seemed to drop away from her and today she looked so young and peaceful. Of late years she had been so weak and frail that her face had aged a good deal but since Saturday that had all faded away and she looked as she used to when her grown-up sons were all at home around her.
We cannot wish her back to go through it all again but we will miss her so sorely and the old home can never be the same again. I cannot remember ever going home and finding no mother there and of late years the first thing that caught my eye when I went in the door was mother sitting in her chair by the window. George sent telegrams to Agnes, Nettie and Lizzie on Saturday. Lizzie was unable to come and Nettie arrived last night–but Agnes will not arrive until tonight. Such a sad home-coming and to find at the end of her journey that she is too late and that the dear face she came to see is hidden forever from mortal eyes. I do hope that by this time your little girl is better and I have strong faith that she will get better as Aubrey had bronchial trouble when he was a baby every time he had a cold and a stronger healthier man than he is now is hard to find.
I’m afraid you will think that it is too much of a task to answer all the letters you get from us so you can just consider that when you are writing to one you are writing to all. If you see Millie please tell her I will write to her as soon as I can spare the time but there are so many things to prevent me. Dave’s father has been in bed now for nearly eight weeks and does not seem to improve much lately. At first he seemed to be gaining some every day but for the last week or so has been at a “stand-still” and though he does not seem to be losing strength he certainly is not gaining. If you see Will will you
[The rest of the letter is missing, but it was almost certainly written by Susanna (Dickey) Archibald, as her birthdate was 45 years before the date of her mother’s death and her husband’s name was Dave.]