Dear Georgette,

Thank you for your prompt reply to my letter.
I would indeed welcome the opportunity to speak
with you on the telephone.  Because I need time
to think and meditate about what you will tell me,
I would prefer several relatively brief conversations
rather than a single lengthy one. Because both my
hearing and my memory leave something to be desired,
I would like, subject to your permission, to record
on tape what we say to each other. I am in no hurry,
and would like to wait until our conversations
cause you no inconvenience at all.

My own situation is as follows: Before February 10, 
when I am arguing a case before the Massachusetts
Court of Appeals, I shouldn't permit myself any
distractions. (I have been building a house on Nantucket
and the local plumbing inspector wants the plumbing
destroyed because I installed it without a permit.
I am appealing a decision of the Superior Court.)
I don't know why my legal escapades shout interest
you, but if they do, you can read all about them at:
http://home.earthlink.net/~jochenmeyer/litigation/litig_index.html
After the hearing, I'll try to improvise some sort of
recording device, and then send you an e-mail to find
a mutually convenient time for a short initial telephone
conversation.

On February 20, or soon thereafter, my wife Margaret and I
will drive to Detroit in my minivan from which both rear
seats will have been removed. Then we will shuttle between
Detroit and Virginia until all of Margrit's belongings
which are presently stored in about 30 cardboard boxes
in her apartment house have been transferred.

In the course of the summer, Margaret and I will probably
make several trips from Massachusetts to Virginia, which
might easily be routed through New York City, making it
possible, if you had time, to spend a few hours talking face
to face.

Meanwhile I apologize for the epistolary intrusion,
and thank you again, very much, for what you meant to
my sister over the years.

Jochen