It is winter here, but there are always things to do. There is a lot of snow on the ground, so this morning I got together with a friend from several years ago, and we went cross-country skiing. We were only gone three or four hours, but I have been completely worn out the rest of the day. My leg is fine, by the way.

The memories here are all good ones for me, except of course my mother dying. But it happened so suddenly that it doesn’t change this place for me.

It is different, I think, for my father. The memories are not all so good for him. He feels bad that he was gone so much, and coming back reminds him of her. They were very close, I think, like your parents are. I know he misses her most when he is here. When I see him like this, I remember the talks I had with your father about God. I wonder why God, if he is so loving, would want my father to be sad. I can’t see that my mother’s dying and my father’s sadness has much of anything to do with what you talked about in your letter about free will and all that. But I’m not going to try to figure everything out about God—I don’t suppose we could ever do that, could we! I guess you can ask a lot of questions, but eventually it will always come down to whether you believe God is good or not—no matter how much you might not be able to understand. I think I am learning to believe that! At least I hope so! I’m trying to.

My father is going back to Washington, D.C., at the end of the week, but I am going to stay here with my grandparents until the school vacation is over. Some of my school buddies and I have planned a hunting trip on snowshoes. When school starts for them I will join my father in Washington. I won’t really have to take up my studies again in earnest until we get back to Berlin, though there are two books and a long paper I am supposed to be working on.

I will be finished with the high school part of my schooling next June, and then will be ready for college or a university. Dad and I have talked about where I should go and what I should do, but we haven’t made any decisions yet. I don’t even know what field I will study. Maybe politics!