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A few years ago, When Jack and Mary moved to Elida they cleaned out the closet in my old room on Grand Avenue and
brought me all my souvenirs including every note and letter Dick had ever written me. I knew they had to be destroyed but I read them all over before I burned them and I gained a new understanding of him. That is when I really fell in love with him.

In 1967 when Dick had the tractor accident that almost killed him and I passed the tractor upside down in the road I promised myself if he was okay I would never again put anyone ahead of him. At this point I began to assert myself with
Alma ...something I should have done many years before. She might have been happier too. She could never let us go. I
made up my mind I would never do this to my own family so as you matured I began cutting the strings and when you each left home for the good I cut the last one with tears in my heart but with joy that you could fly on your own.
So these are bits and pieces of my life. I've come a long way from the girl who married your father. You might not
have liked her ... I didn't. I suffered from terrible mood swings and was so full of insecurities. When I first had to
attend dinners with your father I was absolutely frozen inside with fright and I am still not comfortable in large
groups. I was not always patient and understanding.

I have reached a point where I am comfortable with myself. I know each day is a gift and I look forward to what
it brings. If I could stop the clock for a while I would stop it now because life is good. I finally have more time with
Dick which is all I ever really wanted.

I love each of you dearly but him, I love most of all.