Dear Clare, Our trans-Atlantic families have a long history of direct contact, starting in the early 1950s when Marian’s father, Richard Jeffrees, sailed to America on the Queen Mary. He visited relatives in Michigan, the Lankfers and the Schneiders, including my parents, Len and Hilma. Although I was just a schoolboy then, I remember vividly the stories Richard told and I was impressed how he busied himself trimming cherry trees in Herb Lankfer’s orchard where I worked summers after school let out. You and Marian continued the tradition and made more than a dozen trips to America. While my folks enjoyed their one visit to England in the mid-1960s, the transatlantic trip was too much for my white-knuckled father. When my daughter Amy was spending part of her college term in Finland, you graciously hosted her for several days. I remember so well your surprise trip to attend the 50th anniversary celebration of my folks in Muskegon in 1990. In addition, the two of you managed another visit in 1999, just a couple of months before my dad Len died. That trip while you were visiting a friend in Virginia, we shared a memorable and tasty dinner at Addie’s in Kensington, MD, despite the inconvenience of heavy downpours and water streaming down the roads. In November 2007, on a rare snowy Thanksgiving Eve night, we had the pleasure of having your daughter Helen join my sister Ginny, her husband Bill, Jean and me for dinner in our Kensington home. This solidified the family ties over three generations. You and Marian have done so much to maintain and extend the trans-Atlantic family ties. We appreciate all your efforts and hope to continue these ties for many more years to come. Jean and I had been hoping to visit you and Marian in Bury St Edmunds and regret that we missed seeing Marian before she passed on. We wish we could have told her how much we appreciate her, her sense of humor, her elegance and being a part of your family. On both sides of the Atlantic, our dear Marian will live on in our memories and hearts. She was a special lady. Love, Don and Jean Kensington, Maryland, USA