3

at the infinite patience and understanding
you have had for me and I wonder
how your love can stand so many
jars. And you--you [who] have given
me a new world, a world that is so
much bigger and nobler than the
little petty world I lived in, how can I
ever thank you? I hope, when my
life [here] is over, I will have thanked you
with years of true companionship thru
all the troubles and joys you will find
there, with sympathy and under-
standing and a love that has grown to
be as selfless as your mother's. My
love is still selfish now, for I am still
selfish and petty and trivial except
when you lift me up with you or when
I find my salvation in helping my boys.
But I know I am growing, and with
your help, who knows what I may
become? Only in the process, I am
going to hurt you many hundreds
of times all unwittingly, just as I
have already done, and you will
always forgive me the hurt and look to
the time when I will have clearer
vision. I can look back now and
see the hundreds of foolish and