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Our weather was always too beautiful for you, our shores too uninhabited and pristine. The people around here too open, good-natured and lighthearted and just all-around easy to be with and relaxed. You craved New York nastiness, impoliteness, uptightness, backstabbingness and hardships of every sort and snow so cold your skinny balls froze till they cracked. Things shouldn’t be so ‘naturally good.’” He doesn’t remember saying that, nor does he see himself as ever saying it, since he never believed it, so if she wasn’t quoting him why’d she put it in quotes? “I’m delighted you’ve finally found a woman to marry — not ‘delighted’; that was one of your fake poofy words. I’m just glad you’re getting married and I hope it works and changes you for the better (like helps you mature) as every marriage should. But honestly, I thank all the stars there are that I didn’t become your bride and that you’re no longer hassling me. . Brons doesn’t consider you his second father anymore. He became disappointed and then disgusted with you when you refused to fly out here for a week in what had become your ritual annual visit. You said you couldn’t afford to any longer because the plane fares had gone up, but do you know what it did to that kid? Now he’s too busy making money to be interested in anything you do: your work, who you marry and what’s on your mind. If there’s one person you can bet will be a multi-m man by the time he’s thirty, it’s our junior B. Why deny things for yourself so much? You were the same skinflint with us too. True, you only had menial jobs then and were basically supporting us — your ‘family’ as you liked to say (that I appreciated) — but you still could have treated yourself to something when you had a little money, or not been so penurious (cheap, man, CHEAP!). What I’m saying is that you inherited your cheapness from your father and because it is genetic it’s probably impossible to eradicate.”

Years before, maybe two or three after they split up and he moved back to New York, he wrote “I’m no longer in love with you, you’re for sure no longer or never were in love with me. And you’re with someone, I’m with someone, and you constantly gripe about me in your letters and occasionally say how much you hate my guts. So would it be okay if this is my last letter to you and I don’t get one in return? Give my love to B-J