If You Give Me Three Days of Light: The Best Collection of Helen Keller

Chapter 38 Helen Keller Letters (6)
The blind children will be graduating next Tuesday afternoon at the Tremont Church.Then I will read to you beautiful poems in praise of the beautiful sun-drenched Italian cities.I am enclosing a gift certificate, and I hope you can come.All our teachers and students will warmly welcome our poet friend.I wish our good friend Dr. Ellis would come too, if only he could hold Tom in his arms.

send me deep love and a kiss
your little friend

Helen A.keller

letter 38

To Mr. Phillips Brooks

South Boston, October 1891, 6

Dear Mr. Brooks:
In the past, I've always wanted to "look" at photographs with my hands, the way I "look" at statues.But now, I seldom think about it because my dear God has put all the beautiful pictures in my head, even the things I can't see.Mr. Brooks, if your eyes have lost their light, you will understand why the teacher told Helen that the most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or touched, and can only be realized with the heart.I promised you I would send you my photo and I hope that when you see it this summer your mind will fly south to your happy little friend.

How happy your little Helen is, and every day I find something to cheer me up.Just yesterday, I thought for the first time what a wonderful thing it is that the movement of the celestial bodies is a thing. It seems to me that everything is trying to get closer to God. Are you doing the same?When you become an archbishop, you will be able to reach more people, and you will become happier and happier.It's Sunday morning, and I wonder, as I sit in the library writing this letter, are you preaching the good news of God's love to hundreds of people?I want to send you my photo and compliments, and the teacher wants to send her heartfelt greetings.

your little friend

Helen Keller
letter 39

Helen Keller and Miss Sullivan returned to Tuscumbia during the June vacation of the Perkins Institute for the Blind, and they stayed at their hometown until December.During this time, Helen Keller's communication was also cut off due to her depression caused by the events of "The Frozen King", which obviously had a serious impact on their lives.Helen Keller mentioned this in her self-report, and many other books also mentioned it.

To Albert H.Mr. Munsell
Brewster, March 1892, 3

Dear Mr. Munsell:

I appreciate your letter
Every word of this letter is beyond doubt, and, to be honest, I wish this letter had been longer.I giggled when I read your "Old Neptune's Madness".As a matter of fact I feel the same way, Neptune has been behaving very oddly since I got to Brewster.Obviously, something must have offended his dignity, and his tone of voice was so outrageous that I dare not say hello to him for you.But who knows what happened to him!I can't even imagine what it was that made him so angry.Perhaps when the "Old Poseidon" lay sleeping on the beach, he heard not only soft music, but also the footsteps of life--the commotion of earthly creatures, and he knew that the reign of winter was coming to an end. , so he became furious, and these two desperate rulers had to make a last-ditch effort to drive away Meek Spring with their remaining forces.

But look!The lovely Chun girl exhaled lightly at the ice and snow city built by the enemy, and the ice city disappeared in an instant. She showed a sweeter smile, and the world once again held a grand welcome ceremony for her.However, before we meet, I must stop these wild fantasies.By the way, the teacher specifically told me that she likes that photo very much, and when we go back, she will take a closer look at all the photos.Now, my friends, please accept my greetings, for the bond of love binds us together.

Please give my regards to your esteemed mother.

your faithful friend
Helen Keller
letter forty
In June 1892, this letter addressed to "St. Nicholas" was retranscribed.Although undated, it should have been written within two or three months before it was made public.

to saint nicholas
Dear Saint Nicholas:

Because I want the boys and girls who read St. Nicholas to know how blind children write.So it makes me very happy to send you my own handwritten letter, and I guess some kids want to know how we keep lines when we blind people write, and I'll try to tell them how we do it.We each have a slotted clipboard, and when we need to write, we put the board under the paper.The grooves in the wood form the horizontal lines on the letter paper, and you can easily feel where the pencil meets the grooves, so you can line up the words.At first, it will be difficult for you to write and format clearly, but if you keep practicing, you will be able to write letters to your friends in clear letters.When we write, we hold the pen with the right hand, so that the index finger of the left hand can feel the amount and specific position of the text.The grooves in the board are good enough for short messages, but for long letters you have to move the paper up and down the board.Learning to write makes us very, very happy.One day in the future, friendly people may visit the school for the blind. I believe they would like to see how the blind students write. We can write to them then.

your faithful little friend

Helen Keller
letter 41
Helen at the home of Mrs. McHellen D. Spaulding, May 1892.A fundraising tea party was held for a kindergarten for blind children.Mrs. Spaulding is John P.Mr. Spauer's sister, both of whom were Helen's most generous and warm-hearted friends.The tea party raised more than $5 for blind children.

To Miss Caroline Derby
South Boston, October 1892, 5

Dear Miss Carrie, I am very pleased to receive your kind letter.Do you know how excited I am to learn that you are interested in tea parties.In this event, we will not give up.I will soon be returning to my lovely hometown in the sunny south.I know that many of my Boston friends have a tender sympathy.When I think of the selfless help these well-meaning people have provided to many blind children, I feel particularly relieved.Blind children cannot see the beautiful light, nor the wonderful things that bring them joy.In my opinion, all love must be turned into practical actions. When the helpless blind children know that we are busy for their happiness, they will come to the tea party and help us make the event a success. I was the happiest little girl in the world then.I'm glad to see you tomorrow, when we'll have to discuss the rest of the plan.Please be sure to let Bishop Brooks know about our plans so that he may come to the event.Thank you Miss Eleanor for caring about us, please give her my regards.And say hello to your dear aunt, please tell her that my teacher and I are looking forward to a short visit to her.

salute
Helen Keller
letter 42

At the end of June, Helen Keller and Miss Sullivan returned to Tuscumbia.

To Miss Caroline Derby
Tuscumbia, Alabama, June 1892, 7

Dear Kari, Tuscumbia has been cold and dreary all week.I must confess that I was so overwhelmed by the continual rain and drowsiness that neither letter writing nor any other occupation interested me.Still, I want to say to you that we are all alive - we got home safe and sound, we refer to you every day, we love your interesting letters, and you can totally take what I wrote to you today Letters are considered the most positive proof of my gratitude.

I had a great time at Helton, everything was fresh and spring-like, and we were outside all day.We even ate breakfast outside in the porch.I rode for a while almost every evening, and once I rode five miles at a fast pace.Oh, that would be awesome!Do you like riding horses?Now I have a very nice pony car that my teacher and I will drive out every night if the rain stops.Sometimes, we would sit on the hammock and the teacher would read stories to me.

Also, I have another beautiful mastiff, I think it's a Saxon, the biggest dog I've ever seen, and he'll be there to protect us.We are all looking forward to going to the mountains next week.Mildred is a lovely little sister, and I am sure you will like her.My brother Phillips is not well and we thought the fresh mountain air would do him good.Thank you very much for the photos you sent, although I can't see them, I would like to take photos of my friends with me.I no longer have to write on a "braille board" and, as you might guess, I can now write on a grooved board, like the one I wrote on the scrap of paper I enclosed with my letter.You can't read Braille, because Braille is written with dots, which are not at all like ordinary letters.I find it very interesting to think that your font is "square characters".What book did you send me for my birthday?I have received several books and I don't know which one you sent.One gift that made me particularly happy was given to me by a 75-year-old gentleman—a beautiful crocheted cape, the old gentleman wrote, and every crochet stitch was a blessing to my health and happiness bless.

Please tell your cousins ​​that we better stay neutral until the election is inconclusive.With so many parties and candidates running, I'm not sure if the young politicians are going to face the election wisely.

Please give my regards to Miss Derby and please tell her I wish her my sweetest love for Ruth babe.

Also give my regards to Lucy.

your faithful friend
Helen Keller
PS: What do you think of this handwritten typography?
H． K．

letter 43

To Mrs. Grover Cleveland
Tuscumbia, Alabama, June 1892, 11

Dear Mrs. Cleveland:
Because I love you and sweet little Ruth so much.So I want to write you a short letter on this beautiful morning, and I also want to thank you for the greeting you sent me through Miss Derby.

I am very, very happy to have such a beautiful and kind lady who cares about me.I have admired you for a long time, but I don't know if you have heard of me. I didn't believe it until I received your warm greeting.I will send you a beautiful book with this letter, my teacher thinks you will be interested in the pictures in my book.

Please kiss your sweet baby for me and please tell her I also have a little brother named Phillips Brooks who is almost sixteen months old and I named him after my respected friend Bishop Phillips Brooks named.Please accept your friend's heartfelt wishes.

Helen Keller
letter 44

Published above are the complete letters of Helen Keller.Starting from the following letter, the important part of the letter is published. (Deleted parts are indicated by "...", which is the same for all the following.)
To Mr. John Heitz

Tuscumbia, Alabama, June 1892, 12

Dear Mr. Hetz:
It has been a long time since I received your enthusiastic letter, and I should have written a reply long ago.But I have never known how to write this letter to you, so please forgive me for the delay.You must be wondering why there is no response to your letter. You may have always thought that my teacher and I are really a pair of naughty ghosts who don't know the rules.If you think so, then you must listen to my explanation.In fact, the teacher's eyes have been hurting so much that she has been unable to write letters.And before I left Boston, I agreed to the request of the "Friends of Youth" to write them a short article about my life.So, I've been trying to keep this promise I made over the summer.Originally, I planned to finish this article during the vacation, but at that time I felt so bad that I didn't even feel like writing to my friends.When the bright and pleasant autumn came, I cheered up again and reconsidered the matter of drafting.In this way, when I picked up the plan again, the time was delayed again.So you see, writing an autobiography is not a joy.But in any case, I have been doing things bit by bit according to the teacher's requirements.I slowly pieced together the bits and pieces of the text, which was really difficult work.Although I do it every day, I didn't finish it until last Saturday.So I hastened to send the manuscript to the "Friends of Youth", but I don't know if they will use it.Since then, my health has not been very good, so I have to maintain a quiet and rested state to correct myself.But today, I feel better and I hope tomorrow I will be even better.

Everything you read about me in the newspapers is false.Please don't believe it.We have received your copy of "The Silent Laborer," and I immediately wrote to the editor of the paper, who was wrong.Indeed, I am a healthy person, but I am by no means a "disabled person", and there will be no "suffering" in my life.

If someone communicates a beautiful thought to me, I will always be moved, and I will always treasure this thought in my heart.So your warm letter makes me so moved!The riches Mr. Ruskin speaks of are all over the books I read, and I hold them so dear.I did not realize the value of these treasures until I began writing for The Friend of Youth.But now I know how precious these books are to me.Also friends are an extremely important part of my life and what a blessing they have been to my life.Now, I find that happiness is all around me, and I am happier than ever.I hope you will write to me often, the teacher and I will be very happy to hear from you.I often think of the happy times we had in Boston in the spring.Now I'm going to tell you a secret.I think we, teachers, dad, little sister, and myself, are going to visit Washington DC next March!Then I'll be able to see you again, Mr. Bell, and Elsie and Daisy!Wouldn't it be nicer to meet Mrs. Pratt in Washington?I think I should tell her the secret too...

I also want to write to Mr. Bell, and I'm going to send him my picture.I think he is too busy and maybe doesn't have time to write letters to his little friends.

your faithful little friend

Helen Keller
PS: The teacher said that you asked me which animal I like the most. In fact, I like all my animals. I think everyone is the same as me.I already have a beautiful pony and a big dog.I would especially like to have a puppy on my lap, if it's a big cat (there are no nice cats in Tuscumbia) or a parrot would also work.I want to see how a parrot talks, it must be very interesting!But if I had all these, I'm afraid I could build a zoo

I am very happy no matter what kind of small animal you send me.

letter 45

To Miss Caroline Derby
Tuscumbia, Alabama, June 1893, 2

... I am saddened to lose a dear friend of mine, and I join his friends in Boston in wishing him well, a friend I admired so much!
During these days, I was very sad, and his shadow often appeared in my mind, you know?His heart is always full of tenderness and love!I tried to hold back my sadness, I tried to imagine him very close, very close to us.But the truth tells me that he is not here.I won't see him even when I rush to Boston, because he's gone, and grief is like a raging wave that's about to swallow me up.I am addicted to this grief and cannot extricate myself.

Sometimes, I can even feel his presence, as if he is beside me, and he kindly takes my hand to embark on the road of happiness.Do you remember the happy time we had with him last June?At that time he talked to us about his friend Tennyson, and our esteemed poet Dr. Holmes.He held my hand as usual and I tried to teach him the sign language alphabet while he laughed at his mistakes.Later I told him about the fundraiser tea party.When I close my eyes, I can still hear him say to me in a cheerful and firm tone: "Of course, my child, it cannot fail, it will succeed, as long as you put all your body and mind into the beautiful work "I'm glad people are going to build a monument to him in his memory...

Helen Keller
letter 46

Helen and Miss Sullivan went north in March, and for several months they traveled, visiting friends and relatives.In this letter about Niagara Falls, readers will see how Helen Keller felt the distance and shape of objects.

She was particularly impressed by the way she could feel the rush of the water by placing her hand on the glass window.Dr. Bell gave Helen a cushion so that she could lean on it to relieve the strong vibrations while riding the panoramic elevator.After some exploration—crossing bridges, descending in elevators—she had an intuitive sense of the scale of Niagara Falls.

To Mrs Kate Adams Keller
(End of this chapter)