No 6 Cottage Home, Iowa Friday afternoon, Dec 30th /64 Dear Husband Yours of Dec 14th was received last Tuesday evening; I was glad to hear of your health being better; but I had begun to lay plans of what I was going to do in Spring when we would go to house-keeping, now that happy time is deferred, and if you could regain permanet health I would be willing for you to stay till the 23d's time was out, but I fear your health will be, if it is not already permanently injured; and now that we are all broken up here I feel more anxious than ever for your return, as I don't care about teaching very much, although I expect I will if you don't come home, for I don't want to go to Austins to live, although he very kindly and cordialy invited me to come up there and make it my home as soon as he heard we had sold out; but here I am commiting the double sin of encouring desertion and discouraging a soldier, by giving him the double care of home life, and field cares and duties, too much for even your broad manly shoulders to bear, by way of apology, you always say "write freely on all subjects", you'll think I do that without much urging; you know I can't keep my thought entirely to myself.
