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Show Notes:
January 12th, 1953 — Joyce writes from Denver with a head full of possibilities and a heart full of longing. Her letter to Earl begins with cautious excitement — two potential organist positions, one at the university chapel and one at a Lutheran church. Either could change everything: steady income, time to teach piano, and maybe a little freedom from waitressing. “If they did,” she writes, “I could take on more piano pupils and wouldn’t need to work at anything else.”

But beneath her optimism is fatigue — the slow grind of small rooms, crowded dorms, and endless searching. She combs through newspaper ads for apartments she can’t afford, sighs over shared kitchens where “no one will clean up,” and decides she’s too selfish to eat spinach and eggs at 9:15 p.m. Her humor keeps her grounded, even as she dreams of something better.

Joyce also chronicles dorm gossip (a girl caught sitting on a boy’s lap!), flu outbreaks, and the constant worry over schoolwork — 1,500 to 2,000 pages of history reading and still more credits to manage. Yet as always, she ends with love — looking forward to hearing Earl’s voice and hoping “George stays home this Friday night.” The letter captures Joyce at her most human: hopeful, tired, witty, and deeply in love.

Topics Include:

• Searching for church organist jobs
• Financial independence and limited opportunities for women
• Apartment hunting in 1950s Denver
• Dorm life and behavior rules
• Managing coursework and credit hours
• 1950s student health and flu season
• Humor in domestic chaos and shared living
• Long-distance love and everyday yearning

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