Peter, Marcy, Jed, and Jay

Another letter written on the ADAM computer and printed out. At some point, Grandma wrote “Feb 5, ’83” at the top of this one.

…I’m tickled by this letter because it sounds so much like me. Not everything here is precisely how I would write it today, but most of it is pretty close. Apparently my letter-writing style was fairly firmly established by age almost-15.

Dear Grandma and Grandpa,

I apologize for taking so long to send this letter, but I’ve had a lot on my mind recently, especially with finals all of last week. The Christmas doughnuts and lefse were DELICIOUS; thank you very much for making and sending them. They lasted us a week or two, not because we didn’t enjoy them but because there was so much. I also tend to avoid writing letters, but after spending an afternoon working with Peter on this program it’s nice to see it actually work. I have had a headache for the last several days, but it’s mostly all gone now.

Happy birthday, Grandma (belatedly). How is everything up in Washington? I heard that you went to see the Kentuckians but not much about the trip or about them. I hope that your pneumonia is better now, or rather that you are feeling better after having had it. I haven’t ever even seen two of my cousins, except in pictures, and it’s been years since I saw Uncle Paul, Aunt Linda, or Jason. It would be nice if you could come down for Peter and Susan’s wedding, as Peter suggested.

I managed to score fairly well on my semester "final exams". I also had mostly A’s for second-quarter grades, but lower first-quarter grades dropped three of those to B+. Actually, I’m not positive about a couple of the A’s, since we haven’t received official grades yet, but I’m pretty sure. I can’t be absolutely sure because my European history teacher dropped my first quarter grade to a C+ after telling me it was a B. Oh, well, the semester is over at last, and I can relax a little.

Speaking of school, I have access to several computers there, and have been doing quite a bit of programming. I met a senior in our school’s computer lab who made over $16,000 writing game programs for a home computer, so it’s certainly worth the effort to learn how. I have also been reading a lot, for English class and just for fun whenever I have free time. Well, I’d better wrap up this letter, as it’s getting late, so once again, thank you for the Christmas presents (I also got a ten-speed to replace my old broken bicycle) and with this program, I will probably write you again sometime soon.

Love,

Jed

Notes

“Kentuckians”

I assume that Uncle Paul and Aunt Linda and their kids were living Kentucky at the time.

“met a senior in our school’s computer lab”

I think this was the person who ported the Apple game Choplifter to one of the other platforms, maybe Commodore 64. IIrc, he bought a Pontiac Firebird with the money he made. (And maybe the car later caught on fire? I don’t remember.)