
What a long long time it seems since I wrote to you & what a long dreary time you
have spent in bed! But, as you will doubtless know, we are & have been in constant
communication with Horace & Warry—the
faithful Horace & Warry!—& know all
about you & your ups & downs.
Some of the letters have made my heart ache with sympathy & love for you, my dear
good old Friend of friends & your illness has bound me all the closer to you
God bless you & give you peaceful days and restful nights at all times!
Warry told me about your dear little namesake, "Walt Whitman Fritzinger." &
how you have held him in your arms. That I am sure would delight you.
The other
evening I read the story of "The Carpenter"
aloud to some friends who came in to see me
& when I got to the part which told how the Carpenter sat crowded all over &
around with children who "flocked around him like birds, bloomed around him like flowers,
wreathed around him like vines, swarmed around him like bees, & close to his breast
he held the little lame girl Lilian & read on,
the mothers in the group gave way to tears.
This is a snowy day here & the snowflakes are still falling, falling, falling,
slowly, slowly,
& transfiguring the black & grimy town into a city of beauty & radiance. Oh the
blessed, the beauteous snow!
And now I wonder how you are faring over in that upper room in Camden. Better I trust today & freer from pain & distress
The friends here all send their warmest love & sympathy as does also
Yours most affectionately J JohnstonPS I had a brief note from your friend Symonds today

