Personally Speaking

Ouida and I want to thank our readers for their loving response to our notice in the last issue of the death of our son Philip, and we realize that this applies to those who did not write as well as to those who did. We decided that we would try to make a personal reply to all those who sent condolences, but we may not get around to everyone, so we use this means to express our gratitude.

We were impressed that so many of the cards and letters thanked us for sharing our sorrow, and several thought we showed moral courage in telling the public that our son had died of AIDS. Several thought that this would provide support and comfort to others who are devastated either directly or indirectly by this disease that is well nigh an epidemic, and that by sharing it we helped to inform the public how vulnerable we all are to this vicious malady.

The letters that touched me the deepest were from aged sisters who recalled the loss of a child when they were young mothers, some as long ago as a half century. One sister wrote that even after fifty years she could still see in her mind’s eye her little boy in his coffin. Such testimonials convinced us all the more that our heavenly Father will use such agonizing sorrow to mold us into the loving and caring souls that he wants us to be.

While Ouida underwent some depression during the ordeal, she has bounced back and is busy caring for her mother and helping me in our workshop. I am as busy as I have ever been, especially since I am teaching courses in American studies at both the University of Dallas (Roman Catholic) and Dallas Christian College (Christian Church) this fall. The call to help the University of Dallas was rather urgent since they lost a professor at a late date, and the one who called, a departmental chairman, was one of my graduate students at Texas Woman’s University twenty years ago. It delights her when I tell it on campus that she who was once my student is now my boss. She is, by the way, a member of the Church of Christ. The majority of the faculty at the University of Dallas is nonRoman Catholic. It impresses me as being as ecumenical as Harvard. I appreciate its emphasis on the liberal arts and its policy of not feeling obligated to field a football team, an oddity for a Texas university.

This is my second year to teach a course at Dallas Christian College, which has some of the most dedicated faculty I have ever met, and I have fallen in love with the students who really have that esprit de corps. They are, however, reluctant to read their assignments in American history, so I give them a short quiz each time we meet!

That is enough to indicate that we are fairly well on track at 1201 Windsor Dr. We would appreciate your helping us to increase the circulation of this journal. We have only a few years left and we would like to make them the most productive years of all. — the Editor