"How precious you are to me"

My mother wrote the following letter (excerpted) to my brother Ben when he was incarcerated at the county jail after running from an officer during a routine traffic stop . . .

September 1, 1996

Dear Ben:

I have this constant picture of you coming through the doors in that place you are living in. It is always so good to see you. I am reminded of how precious you are to me. Everything reminds me of that.

* * * *

I would like to sit down with you, like I have never done, and talk about faith and where yours is at the moment, what you have problems with, what you feel sure of. It isn’t an easy talk to have, but I had many of those talks with my Dad as I was growing up. He was a good one to talk with. I fear that I probably “talk at” rather than “talk with,” but I do know the difference and would like to talk with you. If you want to talk by mail, I’ll try to be a good listener. I don’t know whether you would ever have enough peace for that kind of letter. If you do, write. If you don’t, write any kind of letter.

Love,
Mom