Lawr:
I hope this letter finds you well. Frankly, with how seldom I expect you to be at home, I hope this letter finds you at all. But I digress -- with pleasantries out of the way, brass tacks:
First order of business: enclosed is the photograph we all took the last time you visited. Apologies for the delay; apparently, this newfangled dry-plate business makes up for the shorter exposure times with weeks of waiting on the photographist to actually develop the damned photographs. However, you'll find it came out well, so perhaps it was worth the wait.
Second, and more importantly: Thank you. Thank you a million times. Thirty years, and you still manage to impress me with your charisma and your ability to leverage it. Need I remind you how many libraries, archives, academies I've inquired with no response? And yet -- somehow -- miraculously! -- a mere coffee chat is all it takes for the ineffable Lawrence Parston to secure a position for his poor, downtrodden brother. With someone I've never met, no less. How you managed to develop such a skill, I may never know.
You must understand the gravity of this opportunity for my family and myself. I'll spare you the burdensome details, but know this: we've really needed this move. The new environment and the new people will do us all some good. Especially Aster and Nastine.
(The ostracism has gotten to the point that Elena and I lose sleep, you know. They're tough kids, Lawrence. Tougher than any kids should have to be.)
Elena and I are already making our preparations. We'll leave Greene by the end of the season.
-- Leo
P.S. You'll be just plumb chuffed to know, I'm sure, that they both still remind me of you. I fear that living nearer you will only encourage them to run about outside even more.
