Dear Harold and Jean,
I imagine you are surprised. I am also surprised that after many months of silence, I have once again seated my body at the keyboard of the word processor and will now make some words.
No, there is no emergency existing at 3509 West Vogel Avenue, no crisis, nothing at all that requires a typewritten letter. There is no emergency for old Sidley but he does have a purpose other than mere communication of daily events and family gossip. I have long considered writing such a letter to the parents of Roberta Uible-King and finally the opportunity has arrived. I have an afternoon to myself. What better use of time than expressing my thoughts and feelings in this letter.
Is it still a mystery, the purpose of this letter? Bear with me, the secret is about to be revealed.
On May 14, 19XX, an infant was born to Harold and Jean Uible who was named simply "Roberta." Not being then a member of the family and knowledgeable of the events of her early life only through hearsay at family gatherings, I have gathered that this "angel-to-be" may have been a "difficult" child. Despite her problems, she must have absorbed a great deal of family culture that would lead her to being the joyous and caring person she is today.
Again, I do not know of the events of her college years but the absorption of the good things that surrounded her must have continued, again to have resulted in the Roberta Uible-King of today.
At this point, the purpose of this letter may be apparent. It is to extoll the virtues of your daughter, and to congratulate you, her parents, on the superlative job you did in bringing her so successfully from that fateful day of May 14, a half century ago, to the 31st of August, 2001. At times, I am sure that you despaired that such a dissident young girl would ever turn out to be anything useful. You must have never given up hope and continued to instill in her the great virtues that she has today.
At the risk of exciting suspicions of hyperbole, I simply cannot say enough words of praise for the work that she now does in comforting the ill and dying, in resolving the problems of the troubled, in making herself a friend of all and a figure of worth in her field of expertise. You should daily congratulate yourselves that what was perhaps your biggest challenge has proven to be truly an angel in disguise, a grown woman whose ability to comfort and care is known to all.
I again congratulate you, Harold and Jean, the parents of my beloved Roberta, on the passing of your values and family culture on to Roberta, the woman to whom I am so fortunate to be married. I shall forever be grateful.
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