Dear Marion,

Please forgive me for not having sent you 
congratulations on your birthday. I will
make up for this by sending you congratulations
plus one on your birthday plus one.

I lead a quiet solitary existence without being 
lonely. Klemens spent last week with his family 
on Nantucket. Today they are off to New York City,
I presume to help Benjamin get settled in the
apartment which he is sharing with a friend.

My days are spent writing and reading, on the
Internet, what others have written. If my 87 year
old brain were not so much like a sieve, I would
be learning a great deal. But ask me what I read
yesterday, and I couldn't tell you.

My invitation to you to join me in my do-it-yourself
nursing home has no expiration date, and will not be
rescinded so long as I am alive and kicking. But I'm
sympathetic with your need for separateness and 
distance, my thoughts however spend their fair share
of time with you in Minneapolis.

I send you my warmest belated birthday greetings.

Jochen