Dear Folks, This evening while I was washing the dishes I was listening to my classical musical station on the radio and at that hour they were playing "Romantic Moments" or some such title. It was a combination of soft classical music combined with the reading of very romantic letters from long ago by a woman who had a very soft sensual voice. And while I listened to the words of the letters, it reminded me of a string of romantic letters I had written myself almost 21 years ago. In January 1983 I had just passed my 51st birthday. I was a Chief Petty Officer on active duty in the Navy and was a Department Head at Navy Recruiting District Headquarters in Buffalo. A special consulting team came to our headquarters and individuals of the team were assigned to different departments to help them maximize their abilities in the effort of Navy Recruiting. My department was assigned a Master Chief Petty Officer. He walked into my office, introduced himself and got right down to business. For a full week he sat alongside my desk and coached me all along the way as to how I could improve my department's efficiency. I really admired his expertise in our line of Navy work and I took it all in and took copious mental notes. On Friday the day before the whole team was to depart back to their own headquarters, the Master Chief asked me if I would like to get together with him and the whole team for a couple of farewell drinks at a local Buffalo bar that evening. I readily accepted his invitation. I left the office and changed into a flattering civilian dress, etc., and met up with him and the team at the bar. I joined in with all of them and we laughed and talked Navy Recruiting talk over drinks. The Master Chief then suggested that just the two of us go to another bar he had become familiar with and I acompanied him. There we talked and got to know one another and danced and danced together and all in all it was a very romantic evening. As a result, the next evening after he had flown back to his headquarters, I was inspired to write a letter to him regarding our time together and especially our evening together. The following are only the first few words I wrote to him in prose style. DAY ONE You touched my life last night. I don't know whether to love you for it or to hate you. You have interrupted my life. My letters to him continued from January 1983 to around May of 1984. And with every letter I wrote I made a Xerox copy of them and I filed the copies in a special file folder. I didn't want prying eyes to pick out the folder and so I filed them in an old folder that I had labeled "Lafayette De Wees" that I had used for my Lafayette side of the family. Therefore, all of the letter copies were filed there and that's why I eventually called the whole collection "Love Letters to Lafayette." As I read over the last of the love letters this evening I'm reminded of the past--not only the sweet moments but the disappointing moments. Nonetheless, my last note to my eventual collection of the love letters was a sweet farewell. I wrote: IN CONCLUSION We were left with sweet memories To warm us when we need to be warmed On an evening When the heart is cold. Note: I was 56 years old at the time. vee