Dear Jonathan,

What a treat - a letter from you. Some day (as an older teacher) you will have a like experience and know then the pleasure you can't even guess now.

Yes. I am sick. I not only had a heart attack but heart failure as well. There is not only damage to the heart but a clot lodged in the heart which the doctors - and certainly myself - hope can be dissolved.

Nearly a month in the hospital, I am home now trying to be an invalid. I feel well but very tired, and I find I can not do things I have taken for granted all my life. "Slow down!" the doctors says, but that is hard after a life-time of activity; however, when the alternative is "A Swelling of the Ground" one tends to be attentive.

It came at a terrible time - just two weeks before I was guiding a group of adults on a twenty-four day tour of England. It nearly killed me to know I couldn't go, but obviously that was impossible. It wasn't just that I had a responsibility, but I desperately wanted to see England.

Fortunately the company found a young guide who carried out my itinerary and plans. The people had a wonderful time, though I am left nursing my wound.

There is one aspect of my illness that is a revelation and reward - the support of friends. I marvel - and cherish the letters and concern that has been shown. Every day a new expression thrills me and makes me wonder how I have earned it.

I hope this inability to function will not continue into the fall because I want to have my classes again. I don't know if you know that I am teaching at U.M.D. It is a non-credit course for adults - substantially the one I gave you in the eleventh grade, and I enjoy it far more than I would have believed.

Adults are wonderful students. I hadn't realized it before, but I can see now why. They bring a life time of experience and wisdom to the class and respond with an adult understanding that children never can. We will be taking the period of the Civil War - God willing.

I was amused and infinitely pleased at your analysis of my teaching. It was a lifetime involvement that gave me satisfaction as well as pleasure. As I looked out into your beautiful, vital, innocent faces, I fancied I could see your mental wheels at work and fancied I was dealing in eternal matters.

Don't be afraid to be a positive, even optimistic person because whether they accept or reject your dogma, they are thinking, and that is our goal. Facts and figures are tools to accomplish the first aim of a class - thought. You were a delightful pupil, and I was - and am - very fond of you. I hope this letter is the first of many. Sincerely, Mr. B

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