Tilburg 15 - 4 - ‘45

Dear Mrs. Maloney,

We just received your letter this morning.

It took a long time to reach Holland. The Dutch proverb runs "Better ever than never." All is going well here I hope the same from you. You wrote in your letter that Germany will soon be beaten, and now it is the truce, you can hardly believe it. Now Mike may e at home very soon just as my brother.

5 years is a long time, it is too. But now all is over, I think my brother has to go to Japan, but I don't believe it is the matter with Mike. He may be home very soon now.

My girlfriend is just writing a letter to Mike from her and her family. I guess all is going well with him, he moved from here on the 3rd of April. We all were very sorry but he told us that they never in one town for a long time they stay at one place for three weeks.

I hope he has enjoyed himself very well. The most of the time he was writing near the stove, or talking about Canada. Specially about his Peggy and Danny. He shows us his pictures. It is a nice country there as I saw. I always lived in the country but now we are evacuated to Tilburg. I better like the country but we can't help. We cannot always have what we like to have.

It is going a lot better over here, with the supplies not too much, but about enough, and that is more than we awaited.

I hope it will end with Japan very soon too. Than all is over and the Victory and Peace rec'[?] over the world again, as you wished in your letter.

I am run out of news. The family of my girlfriend ask me to hand you their kindliest regards but specially from your Dutch Friends

Fientje Happel & Sjef Franken

Cheerio. So long.