The Letter

I found the letter tucked far back in a dresser drawer with some other personal effects. It was a note that had been typed on a single sheet of blue paper, folded in half twice, and addressed to my mother, then a young wife and mother residing in Detroit, Michigan. It was sent by airmail with sixpence postage from Manchester, England, on 15 February 1966. After a brief introduction, the letter read: “You will appreciate that it is impossible for me to discuss your problem except in very general terms. The idea that Hodgkin's disease is inevitably fatal was one of the old ideas, which …