December 14, 1945

Philip came home today. We’ll be home for Christmas. Mother Hodge sailed for Italy. They missed each other by a few hours! She’ll be in Rome with Dad Hodge for Christmas.

Oh, it is so good to have Philip home.

December 27, 1945

Philip had an interview at Brown University in Providence, R.I., with Dr. Adams and Dean Richardson about his return to school. They offer to try to get him an educational reclassification and to give him a scholarship in the Graduate School with the hope of a fellowship later. It’s too wonderful, hard to believe. He’s to start school on January 2, 1946, still in uniform.

January 3, 1946

Three years. This looks like it will be a wonderful year. Our life beginning.

January 15, 1946

Thea finished school today. She will not attend commencement exercises because she is going to Providence to join Philip.

We gave Mary an informal wedding and reception-luncheon this past week-end & she & Dr. John are now in Rochester.

January 28, 1946

Moved our belongings and ourselves into a 2-room & bath basement apartment at 122 Benefit St. We plan to make our basement livable. Fun!

February 2, 1946

O day! Thea graduated in absentia from Hunter College with a cumulative average of 3.3 or B+. Philip received his educational reclassification from Selective Service. We’re free and we’re together. We can look forward now.

February 19, 1946

Dean Richardson told Philip today that Prof. Lindsay reported him the top man in the class despite his late entry – at midterm. The Graduate School is now offering Philip a fellowship covering tuition plus $200.00 in cash for the spring semester.

Thea has found a position as secretary to a newly formed corporation – Sydell-Syverson & Co., Inc., automobile loss adjusters and appraisers for insurance companies. The two men are very nice and pleasant; they have excellent reputations. A lively active office. The job requires initiative, responsibility and common-sense. Good!

March 25, 1946

Philip received his I-G classification today: the classification given to men who have served a sufficient number of years in the Merchant Marine, exempting them from further military service under the present draft law. This is definite, final, and permanent.

March 28, 1946

The University is offering Philip a University Research Fellowship of $600, plus tuition for the 10-month period, Sept. 1946 to June 1947, provided he plans to continue his studies here and plans to study during eleven weeks of the twelve-week summer vacation. He planned to do that anyway since he has already lost three years and every month now is precious. That is a larger fellowship than his present one, and much larger than they had led us to expect. Everything is wonderful.

April 3, 1946

We received our membership today in the Blue Cross Hospitalization Plan which takes care of ordinary hospital expenses for a certain length of time each year, and covering almost anything that can happen to us, – including a baby.

April 4, 1946

Daddy Drell is recuperating nicely.

July 18, 1946

Philip has been transferred from the Univ. Research Fellowship to a Rockefeller Grant of $750, plus tuition. He is a valuable man.

June 1946

We’ve decided that we are financially in sight of security, that we are emotionally secure, that the world despite the Atom Bomb is no worse than it was when we were born, that our affirmative decision will better the world, and that therefore we can now try to increase our family.

September 17, 1946 (entered later)

Tonight our first child was conceived.

November 8 and 9, 1946

On these days we are respectively 24 and 26. And we are certain enough of our parental success to tell the families that by the end of June 1947, there will be an addition to the family. Philip wrote a poem with which to make the announcement. The family is almost more excited than we are.

November 22, 1946

The registrar of the Graduate School informed Philip that he passed the German language examination, one of the requirements for a Ph.D. candidate. And this after a four-months acquaintance with the language!

January 3, 1947

Four years. It’s just wonderful being married.

February, 1947

Mother & Dad Hodge visited us on leave from Italy.

Thea’s diploma received from Hunter College; also the first news that she was graduated “cum laude.”

March, 1947

Philip has been offered a fellowship for this summer of $150.00 a month (tuition not covered). Awards like that stretch our savings and therefore spread out our period of security.

April 14, 1947

Moved into our new apartment at 49 Benefit St. It has an enormous bedroom, good-sized living room, kitchen, pantry, and bath, lots of closet space, and a sufficient number of pieces of furniture; many large windows and our same well-liked landlady. The apartment is in poor condition but she will provide paint and linoleum if we’ll provide labor. A tremendous job ahead of us but we anticipate it happily. We hope we can complete it before the baby comes. The washing machine also arrived today; the apartment has a good spot for it.

April 30, 1947

Philip took and passed his French language examination. One more step forward.