<br/>Evelyn! Elizabeth! Stevens!<br/><br/>I told you, very specifically, NOT to waste your sugar rations on me, and what was the first package I get? I'm smiling as I write this because I can't say I wasn't overjoyed at getting them.  Thank you very much.  You always took after your Papa in that respect. Couldn't stand someone telling you what to do. I waited for a Sunday afternoon to eat them. It was a rare mild day with a cool breeze, I took an ice cold bottle of milk and sat under a shade tree.  If I closed my eyes I could almost hear our footsteps as we chased fireflies at Spring Lake.<br/><br/>I was very angry to hear about how Ralph acted.  You deserve better than that. A lot better.  We take boxing lessons here and our instructor said I was a little more aggressive than usual. I didn't tell him why.  I wish I had been there. I could have offered to take you to a movie instead, and then it wouldn't have happened.  Or if it did, I would have...well, he and I would have had words. We still might.  Does he think just because his father owns the Five and Dime he can do whatever he wants?  Why isn't he in the service anyway?  As I said before I never really liked him.<br/><br/>It sounds like things are exciting enough back home. I'm glad no one was hurt and I hope everything is getting back to some kind of normal. I have to admit, I am getting nervous.  Nervous and frustrated.  The Army can be so efficient in some ways and maddeningly inefficient in others.  It really hasn't been that long since Pearl Harbor and they still don't know how to handle all these new recruits.  Right now we are doing "on-line training."  It means we do anything they can think of to keep us busy while they sort through the tests we took and for our advanced schools to be set up.The war isn't even warm yet, but it still aggravates me that I am here snapping greenbeans and making my bed while my country needs me.  I am nervous too. They are also sorting out who is going to be washed out.  I couldn't take it if they didn't take me, Evie.  I mean there's nothing wrong with the regular Army, but there's just something about the possibility of being considered to fly. It just makes me feel like I have a little something extra going for me.<br/><br/>The only thing that breaks up the monotony is they do have dances here once in a while.  We look sharp in our dress uniforms and the girls there are very nice. I find I enjoy dancing and regret not having taken it up earlier.  The dances the school had always seemed like a lot of fun.<br/><br/>I need to get to bed, thank you again for the cookies.  I still think about how good they tasted and it brings a smile to my face.<br/><br/>Yours,<br/>Jack