It was a letter written by my father, dated just two weeks before he died.
Richard had found it tucked inside the back cover of a project notebook.
I drove to the office alone.
The letter was addressed to Mark, but the last paragraph mentioned me.
My father had written that he was proud of the young man I was becoming, though he worried I spent too much time believing that hard work could solve every problem.
He hoped I would someday build a life that left room for more than work.
Then came the final lines.
If Ethan ever meets someone who teaches him that peace is not the same thing as loneliness, tell him to listen. He has a good heart, but he is stubborn enough to mistake suffering for strength.
I read the sentence several times.
My father had written it before he died.
Thirteen years before I met Diane.
