April 8, 2029

Dear Aunt Tina,

I got your card and care package today in the mail, and I am writing to thank you. As soon as everyone realized it was from you, I was hounded! I finally had to hide in my room with a locked door to open it in peace.

The first thing I saw when I opened it were those fantastic jars of strawberry jam. You know it's my favorite! If you see red stains on this letter, you'll know it's because I've been scarfing it all afternoon. Grandma still makes strawberry jam, but the berries she gets from New Zealand aren't the same. They're still good, don't get me wrong, but there is just something about the berries in Kansas that says 'home' to me. Now, before you tell Grandma I've been hogging the jam, I'll tell you I've only kept one jar just for myself, and all the rest is in the kitchen pantry, along with the apple butter, and most of the pickles you sent. Grandma turned green with envy when she saw the bread and butter pickles. She has always said yours are better than hers, and I can't say I really disagree. Don't tell her I said so, though!

Unfortunately there was an accident with the cookies, and when I opened them, a bunch of them were broken. Knowing how much pride you take in them, I ate all the broken ones, so no one would know they weren't all perfect. Sadly, once I ate all of the broken ones, I realized there weren't enough left to share, so I ate all of them too. They were really great sandwiched with the strawberry jam.

I really loved that glass paperweight you sent. When I showed it to Dad, he tried to swipe it. I'm going to have to keep a close eye on it, or it might just 'swim' to Dad's desk! You're actually wrong about it being too colorful to be designed after a real fish. I've seen just this kind of fish on the reefs off of Australia. It's called a lineatus wrasse, and if you look up a picture of one, you'll see the artist was really quite accurate. In fact, as I look at it right now, it looks so real, I half expect it to stop holding down my papers, and start flopping around looking for some water.

When I told Grandma about you saying you didn't think it was realistic, she told me to send you a copy of a vid that Alan and I filmed when we were scuba diving last year. That's what the DVD is. Watch it, and you'll not only see the lineatus wrasse is real, but also that it isn't even the most spectacular fish out there. By the way, the music you hear with the vid is Virgil. The original soundtrack is pretty much just Alan and I going 'oooh' and 'aaah.'

I want to thank you for the card, too. Grandma told me how you were praying for me when I was sick, and I want you to know I really appreciate it. Your support means a lot to me, and to Grandma too. I'm doing fine now. All of the muscle stiffness is gone, and that tingling in my hands that Grandma says she told you about is gone, too.

Grandma says she is going to come to your house for a visit, and she has told Dad she'd like me to fly her up so you can see for yourself that I am okay. Dad has said he'll think about it, so I might be seeing you pretty soon.

Thanks again for everything!

Love,

Gordon