July 19, 2020
An Appreciation and Dedication on the Occasion of Your 76th Birthday
Dear Linda,
On the occasion of your 76th Birthday, I am pleased to reflect upon what makes you so unique and delightful and how I look forward to our out-years together.
When Bresnahans were here a few nights ago, I thought again about your grace as a hostess, the sincere warmth of your toast as well as your superb taste regarding all things domestic.
But this is too formal. In a word, I love you and I look forward to the rest of our lives together. The CV-19 lockdown has brought home to me the beauty of this place, the warmth of your love and attention, and the prospect of giving up active advocacy. While we will likely be doing less travel, the proximity of the boys and their parents makes the future look pleasing in all respects.
I hope under less work pressure I can learn better how to express these feelings in the form of more personal affection and vocal appreciation. Forgive me for failing in the past in this regard.
Love,
Jack
16 Feb 2021
Dear Linda,
I really do love you and need you as the source of love, appreciation, and care in our lives. I am sorry to have to again express remorse for missing another opportunity to reciprocate for all that you do for me. I really am rather heartless in this regard and the Covid 19 experience has certainly brought home the numerous ways I could express myself if I only cared enough to think more about it. Even the cat shows more affection than I.
Please continue to help me break out of my carapace and use our time together to better express the very hidden feelings of love that are actually there in me.
Thank you. I love you.
Jack
August 27, 2021 (55 years)*
Dearest Linda,
On the occasion of our 55th anniversary I thank you and salute you for all that you have done and continue to do to make my/our life so enjoyable and memorable. Without your memory of signal events and the names of others who have cross our paths, I would be limited to what I read in my history books. Moreover, your ideas for memorializing such good memories with picture books, scrap books and just plain recall, have meant a lot to me as well as the rest of the clan. You continue to make life enjoyable, exciting, and noteworthy.
Your instincts and taste regarding the house and garden are faultless and the reason both are so unique. Your work organizing and communicating with the GU crew has been both unmatched and much appreciated by everyone else. Your attention to the needs and development of the boys provides an example for all of us. Their love in return is a wonderful balm invigorating our old age. I look forward to more years of the same and hope I will tell you how much I love you.
Love,
Jack
*This is an amazing letter, in that in June 2021 Jack had been given the diagnosis of stage 4 prostate cancer as well as significant heart issues (involving a pacemaker implant in June and two heart surgeries in July and August. We never made it to our 56th anniversary, except in spirit…