265 - MERMOZ, Jean

MERMOZ, Jean L.A.S. “Jean,” [Dakar 1934?], to his “Dearest Mom”; 2 pages, in-4 format, on tissue paper, via the Aéropostale. He is leaving for Natal tonight. “I arrived in Dakar later than I expected. One of my engines completely failed overnight, a thousand kilometers from Dakar. I was still able to make it there fairly smoothly with the remaining three engines. I’m leaving tonight on the Santos-Dumont, since my plane needs an engine replacement. I plan to return on the 31st and continue with the mail service to Marseille, where I’ll spend two or three days waiting for Foa, who’s coming down on Thursday to leave for Saigon. From there, I’ll head back up to Paris to take his place, and I’ll come see you on Saturday or Sunday in Rocquigny. I plan to stay in France for about fifteen days. Life in Dakar isn’t much fun. I like Natal even better. It’s impossible to get organized there: it’s worse than ever—life in a small subprefecture with a dreadful climate. Fortunately, I’m leaving tonight… and besides, despite everything, I have the peace of mind I so desperately need.” His wife Gilberte is going on a winter sports trip: “Naturally, she’s suffering terribly, and the worst part is that there’s nothing I can do to ease her pain. I feel so much calmer now, so much more at peace: I truly suffer only from her own suffering, just as one suffers from a child’s pain—how sad it all is! I’d much rather suffer myself than see her suffer, and yet I feel so hardened at times that this feeling causes me unbearable pain. […] Why is life like this? I could have been so happy with an Yvonne, a Janine, and now it’s all over, finished—with a failed personal life and this agonizing sense that all the youth and freshness we once had within us have vanished forever”… Another handwritten letter is enclosed. “Jean,” Dakar, May 25, 1934, to his mother: “Just a few words to let you know that I’m thinking of you, that everything is fine, and that I plan to leave for Natal on Monday”… (1 page, in-4, on Air France letterhead). Provenance: - Jean Mermoz (1901–1936); - Gabrielle Gillet-Mermoz (1880–1955); - Then passed down within the family