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First draft of letter, in note-book 59 (30) Mina Merrill. 425 N. Capital Ave., Indianapolis, Ind. Jan., '02 Dear Mina
Merrill: You don't know how glad I am to get your New Year letter. Old days and present days are as one. I hear the kind
and gentle and loving tones of your voice in it, and see you and your beloved sister as if I were beside you. Time and distance
and geography, with the new people and changing conditions they beget, seem to have no effect on me. I know your natural sorrow
and loneliness. You are lonely and yet not lonely, for your sister still lives with you in love, and with your other sister
and brother and all your friends you must be of good cheer and go on doing whatever your hand finds to do, as if she were
still with you in the flesh. God cheer and comfort you. Yours ever the same, J. M.02890(30) First draft of letter, in note-book
59