(4)The robins & bluebirds have returned - The anemones are again in blossom and the grass is growing green once more - and we hear & [give?] praises to the Creator all around us - and surely [celebrate?] with them within ourselves - I enclose to you Anna Merrill Foster\u27s letter - also a clipping containing words which reminded me of you as I read them. I had a letter from Mrs. C. C. Parry recently - written in Philadelphia. She complains of very poor health. She enquires very affectionately about you & your family - Says she has very pleasant recollections of her visit in the Alhambra Valley. This letter is freighted with love & best wishes for you & all the family.Your sister, Annie L. Muir[1]Portage, Wis. April 8- \u2790Dear Brother JohnIt seems [like?] a long time since I have heard from you or written to you - And as I am longing for a word from you, I will begin at my end, and do my part first. It is a rainy, drizzling day, and Mother & I are sitting cozily by the fire. Part of the time she reads, and part of the time she nods & sleeps in her chair; while I have sewed & thought most of the day - Now almost gone - And as you see my last thoughts [2]were with you, and the change in my occupation followed - The past week has been a very depressing and solemn one to [Mother?]; as her dear old friend Mrs. Roby, who lived quite near [illegible] and with whom Mother [spent?] so many pleasant hours these last years of her life - died, quite unexpectedly just about a week ago and here aged husband followed her in less than a week - Both burried within one week - I can see that it has been a shock to mother, and as this is always a trying season of the year I am a little anxious about her. I am glad to say that she is not sick, but she feels weak - complains of being tired without doing any[3]thing to tire her - But I am going to get a tonic for her, & hope that she will get along all right - Sarah has just returned from the country where [she?] has been cultivating the acquaintance of her two grandchildren - Kenneth & Bernice Eastman. Joanna\u27s health is rather better than it has been - and she is somewhat encouraged about business as Walter has made a change. Is now travelling for a lumber Co. And as he has, in the past, been engaged in the lumber or timber business - and is to receive a stated salary, there seems less uncertainity about their affairs - 0141
