In this episode of Dearest Suzie, Popi writes on August 13, 1965, from a villa in Saigon. He’s groggy, hungry, and still waiting on the orders that will send him home. But in between complaints about raunchy coffee and missing breakfast, there’s something else stirring: thoughtfulness. With only weeks left in-country, he’s begun souvenir shopping, jewelry boxes for the grandmothers, cloth for his sisters, a uniform for Al. He even buys a tablecloth from a group of Irish Catholic nuns, fully aware it won’t fit any table they own. “I just call it my contribution to the war effort,” he jokes.

This episode explores the quiet acts of care that soldiers engage in at the end of a long deployment. From a conversation over raisin cake with nuns raising money for an orphanage, to his quip that Suzie will only receive about fifteen more letters, Popi is beginning to shift. He’s thinking not just about going home, but about what he’s bringing back with him—and what kind of man he wants to be when he gets there. That too-small tablecloth becomes a kind of symbol: proof that generosity can persist, even amid exhaustion, even when it doesn’t quite fit.

What’s Covered:

• Bill’s R&R in Saigon and frustration with delayed orders
• His visits with Irish Catholic nuns raising money for an orphanage
• Souvenir shopping as a ritual of return
• Quiet reflections on nearing the end of a year-long deployment

📷 Featured Photo: A woman stands in the foreground of a storefront display filled with candle holders, porcelain vases, and mother-of-pearl jewelry boxes—just like the ones Mema kept for decades.

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