Dear Richard,

Thanks for the well wishes, I’m sorry I missed you as well. It is tough over here but I am doing well and my men are well. We are all tired, missions day and night and young men are still dying, six men were killed three days before Christmas, they were all Polish. I had to go and pick up the shattered bodies and destroyed vehicle. We are in their battle space. I will be very happy when this comes to an end. I should be back in Boston by mid-march. It seems an eternity away but I know it will arrive. I am truly tired of war I have seen too many horrible things and too many faces of the dead live in my head. The only good thing is that it has brought me closer to Jesus and his teaching. I miss my family, friends, and dear wife.

Best,
George

The last words of Steve Jobs, on his deathbed, were OH WOW, OH WOW, OH WOW. This is what his sister, Mona Simpson, reported in the eulogy she gave at his memorial service.

Though she is a novelist and could possibly have shaped this phrase for its dramatic effect, still it rings true to the man. While living, he was prepared for wonder and, next to death, might well have called out in a kind of ecstasy.

This way of dying fulfills what I once wrote long ago: “How can anyone on the brink of dying not be filled with an almost insane wonder?”

As a site for the Sunday afternoon recital, an elegant Cambridge home served memorably. The music room was high-ceilinged and spacious. It comfortably held two grand pianos, back to back, and, around the walls, seating for some twenty invited guests. The host, Ruth, at 96 years of age, received us with grace (and later with wine and cookies.)

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