Dear El
Hey there, [El].
Well, wasn’t sure how many Toms you knew these days and wanted to make sure you wouldn’t confuse me with any of them. But then, I suppose there aren’t many Toms that attend camp. I can’t think of any, anyhow.
I hope you can make it to the retreat. We just received our forms last week. I already sent mine back in. So unless a big snowstorm comes that weekend, I’ll definitely be there. I’ll have lots of current music on the computer by then – have added about 110 songs since summer camp. Put in your requests now. But just don’t ask for country stuff. 
I can relate to your math struggles. When I took Calculus, I came close to crying on more than one occasion. You know how you can just keep looking, staring, and reading over a concept or a problem and feel totally bewildered and lost. Usually, if I read over them about 30 times it started to make some sense. Hang in there.
I’ll send a letter to [Mel], recommending you for the retreat.
Things are going well for me. Yes, I do keep in touch with several people from Philly, and just learned that [Rick] was just diagnosed as having diabetes. In late August, he developed Bells Palsey, a partial paralysis of the facial muscles. The doctor treated him for that, but it did not clear up as expected. So, they did blood work on him, and learned of his high blood sugar levels. Currently, they have him on medication for the sugar, and a restricted diet. Hopefully, if he can get his blood values down to normal, the Bells Palsey will clear up.
[Jack] is singing with Agnes and Burney. They’re all enjoying the fall weather in Philly, and are excited about coming to the retreat.
Well, back to work with me. Study well, eat well, sleep well, and play well, and you will DO well.
