feel like crying: a hard day

[Alan H]

So please do not assume we do not "care".

Todd

Todd, you care. You care somewhat in the way that I care. I understand that, and value it. I am not insulting you, nor your passion for history, or understanding. I respect and value your commitment to passing along that understanding.

....But this is different, and mom would not agree with you and THAT is the point, today.

[macwilkin]

Todd, you care. You care somewhat in the way that I care. I understand that, and value it. I am not insulting you, nor your passion for history, or understanding. I respect and value your commitment to passing along that understanding.

....But this is different, and mom would not agree with you and THAT is the point, today.

Alan,

But that is your mother's POV, not yours. And was your mother a member of the DAR?

While I regret that I could not have kept these items at home, I can go and view them there when I want, and I have the satisfaction of knowing that others will come and view these items and thus learn something of our past.

I am eventually planning to donate what items I do have from Lt. Williamson to the State Historical Society of Iowa's museum in Des Moines; sure, it will hurt to see it go, but just knowing that they are "going home" to Iowa where they will be displayed as a tribute to Iowa's sacrifices in the War of the Rebellion makes me feel good about it.

T.

[thescot]

This is the kind of day when each of us wishes to say something wise, something to ease the pain and alleviate the grief. But that is just not the way it is. I can't--we can't.

So please let me say how terribly sorry I am for all of it--the loss, the grief, the unhappy memories, . . . all of it. It simply defies explanation, maybe defies understanding.

The fact is, we all get one mother, and we never quite get over her. I hope you can dwell on the cookies and milk. In the end, they are really more important than anything else in the big scheme of things.

God be with you in your time of sorrow. I am happy to know that I might see your paintings one day when I return to Washington. And when I look at them, I will know what it is given me to know about them.