I got up at 6 to look at the snow. I conclude that since the temperatures will be well above freezing, I do not need to clear the driveway. I will clear your front and back steps so that you can get to your mailbox, and in case you decide that you need to drive somewhere. If it seems necessary, I will clear the driveway this evening. 

There is more important news, a second blow to Laura. You may vaguely remember that Leah traveled to Korea as a musical representative of Yale during the past summer. She went a week early to see the country. During that week traveling on her own, she met an Australian medical student, with whom she became intimate within 48 hours. They have been talking by telephone virtually every day, and Leah has been saving up the money she earns working as a saleswoman at a lingerie shop in Harvard Square to fly to Vietnam, where she will travel with her friend for two weeks in January. Yesterday, she received all the immunizations required. Laura had taken care of Rae yesterday, and Rebekah, Mark and Rae were here for supper. Leah talked about meeting the mother of one of her elementary school friends on the Harvard Square bus, and learning that her friend is moving to Australia. She found the coincidence very amusing, and made a joke of saying to the baby, whom I was holding on my lap, that if Rae wanted to move to Australia, she, Leah, would think that was fine. Laura and I independently had come to the formulation that if she insisted on traveling in Vietnam with this young man, we thought that it would be much, much less dangerous emotionally if they abstained from further sexual relations.. Laura is distressed. I, again, shrug my shoulders. I do have to say that Leah seems to be working at the courses she is taking in preparation for medical school much more seriously than she worked in college, when she was constantly distracted by extracurricular and social activities. She has a purpose. She was also not at all angry about the dog during his four day stay with us last weekend. Nathaniel has taken the dog for further training, and he is, presumably with age in fact somewhat calmer, and Leah has relented in her hostility. 

On Fri, Nov 16, 2018 at 12:37 AM Ernst Meyer <ernstmeyer@earthlink.net> wrote:

    Thank you for your thoughtful account of the details. While you were
    writing to me, I was listening to a 1968 Fischer-Dieskau rendition of
    Die schöne Müllerin. I was surprised that I found it a bit
    expressionistic and less mature than I had expected.

    Since Mommy died I have been meditating even more about my relationship
    to my family, now including the dog that has become part of it. The
    great need is not, I think, to be loved, but to love, a need which
    whether reciprocated or not, one may satisfy to the limit of one
    strength and to the satisfaction of which geographic separation is not
    necessarily an obstacle. 

    On January 17, 1950, when in a fit of depression I suggested to her
    that she might want to abandon our relationship, Mommy replied:

    "I do not really know what you have given me, but I do know that I
    have something, still very small and weak, which I had not before and
    which is very beautiful. It helps me transcend the hurt and to make me
    wish, not to turn in and protect the hurt, but to take care of you and
    love you more."

    The envelope with the correspondence of 8 years ago concerning the
    spiral stairs is on my desk. Tomorrow morning I will refresh my memory
    and then discuss with you whether you or I should manage the
    negotiations.

    Good night. I hope you sleep well.

    On Thu, 2018-11-15 at 22:43 -0500, Klemens Meyer wrote:
    > You’re right, I have written checks on that account in the past. I
    > will sort this out either Saturday or next week. 
    >
    > Mr. Barros called me today to say that we had passed the insulation
    > inspection. He was present. I have not yet heard from the insulation
    > contractor how much I owe him; I have sent him a message asking him
    > that. Mr. Barros plans to start the drywall installation tomorrow. 
    >
    > The important news is that it seems very likely that Rebekah, Mark
    > and Rae will move to Colorado Springs, Colorado sometime this winter,
    > with the expectation of living there for 2-4 years. I have known for
    > about a month that this might happen. They visited the area last
    > week; Rebekah was charmed by the mountains. My estimate of the
    > probability that they will move is now 90%, and I thought that I
    > should tell you about it before the Thanksgiving party, when it may
    > be the topic of idle conversation. It obviously doesn’t affect you,
    > since you don’t see anything of them anyway. Mark would be working at
    > a branch of Lincoln Laboratory located in Colorado Springs. He would
    > be doing this in the expectation that he would be able to initiate
    > new projects, with more independence, and that when he returns to the
    > Boston area, he would be promoted to the position of Group Leader
    > within Lincoln Laboratory. I think that there is a 25% chance that
    > they would not move back to the Boston area. Rebekah is eager to go.
    > Lincoln Laboratory would pay not only for the move but for their
    > housing in Colorado, they would rent out their condominium in
    > Arlington, Mark would be paid more than he is paid here, and she
    > would plan not to work. She is trying to escape from veterinary
    > practice; the reason she gives is the distress she experiences when
    > she is required to euthanize animals. They would expect to return to
    > the Boston area for some days approximately every two months, because
    > Mark would have to come to the local branch of the Laboratory.
    >
    > Laura is disappointed because she has been so enthusiastic about
    > taking care of Rae. I am phlegmatic. I have told Rebekah and Mark
    > twice that I think that it would be a mistake for them to have a
    > second child out in Colorado, with no family support, and that if the
    > move did not seem important to Mark’s career, I would not think it
    > was worth the emotional cost to the family, but that under the
    > circumstances, I think it is probably the right thing for them. I
    > told them and Laura that we shouldn’t tell ourselves fairy tales
    > about Laura and me visiting in Colorado: we’re both still working,
    > and I can’t imagine that we would visit them more than twice a year
    > at most. Although I didn’t say so, so as not to seem resentful, I
    > don’t have any particular interest in such visits. I don’t know that
    > it much matters to me where the children settle, or how much I see of
    > them or of their children. You may interpret this as depression; I
    > don’t think it is. It’s just introductory existentialism. I am just
    > realistic about the tenuousness and ultimate meaninglessness of
    > interpersonal relationships, except to the extent that they arise
    > from continuing shared work. 
    >
    > I think that all the snow will wash away tomorrow, and may be largely
    > gone before I leave about 7 am. If not, I wiIl see whether it merits
    > the snowblower, and will get up early to figure that out. I have to
    > be in Somerville at 7:30 am. 
    >
    > I think that it is time to order the spiral stairs for Nantucket. 
    >
    > Klemens
    >
    > Klemens Meyer, MD
    > Mobile 617-549-5539
    >
    >
    > > On Nov 15, 2018, at 1:47 PM, Ernst Meyer <ernstmeyer@earthlink.net>
    > wrote:
    > > 
    > > Of course, I will do, with respect to a joint visit to Cambridge
    > > Savings Bank, - and with respect to everything else -  whatever you
    > > suggest. I do have checks for the account in issue, and Cambridge
    > > Savings Bank has your signature.  If Mr. Lennon could assure you
    > > that they would honor your signature, you could simply sign a check
    > > which I could then take to Bank of America. 
    > > 
    > >> On Thu, 2018-11-15 at 13:19 -0500, Klemens Meyer wrote:
    > >> I scheduled both payments. 
    > >> 
    > >> Mr. Lennon from Cambridge Savings Bank called me back. He was
    > >> concerned that wire transfers were expensive, costing $25 for each
    > >> transfer. He suggested two alternatives: one to write a check, and
    > >> the other to do something else that one can do under a business
    > >> account, but that I don’t remember; I was rounding in the dialysis
    > >> unit when he called. In any event,  I think that we should go to
    > >> Belmont Center to meet with him. He says that if we meet in
    > person,
    > >> he will set me up as a signatory on the account. Whether or not I
    > >> already ought to have signatory authority, I think that we should
    > do
    > >> this. I will look at my schedule and find out when he is
    > available.
    > >> It will be next week unless he will be in on Saturday. 
    > >> 
    > >> I will see whether I can accomplish the transfer from Schwab now
    > that
    > >> I have the statement. If you were able to tell me the approximate
    > >> date when the Schwab account was established, that might be
    > helpful,
    > >> because it war one of the identifying questions I couldn’t answer,
    > >> and might come up again. 
    > >> 
    > >> Mr Lennon asked the irrelevant question whether you had a
    > smartphone,
    > >> explaining that you could use this to deposit checks written on
    > the
    > >> Cambridge Savings Bank account to the Bank of America account. One
    > >> can deposit checks by photographing them with the phone. I mention
    > >> this because it may come up when we meet with him. 
    > >> 
    > >> Klemens Meyer, MD
    > >> Mobile 617-549-5539
    > >> 
    > >> 
    > >>> On Nov 15, 2018, at 11:19 AM, Ernst Meyer <ernstmeyer@earthlink.n
    > et
    > >>> wrote:
    > >>> 
    > >>> Please let me know if you wish me to pay $470.68 to the Lisbon
    > Tax
    > >> collector for Invoice 2018P02011603 and
    > >>> $20.52 to National Grid Acct No 61915-51001 for Nantucket
    > >> Electricity
    > >>> 
    > >>> I hope you slept well and are feeling better. I am alright.
    > >>> 



-- 
Klemens Meyer
Mobile 617-549-5539