Dear Mark,
Everybody's hurt and confused the way you left...but you never did do
things the normal way.
The other night you were saying everything was going perfectly for you
right now. The family was great, work was busy, the backyard was blooming
and a lot of exciting plans coming up in the future. Maybe it's best to
retire at the top. Sort of like Michael Jordan. But we'll really miss
you and your amazing energy, enthusiasm,
and love for everything you did: your family, friends, the arts, music,
travel, science, actually just about everything in life. And Mark, that
wonderful sense of humor. God will we miss that. You had the world's greatest
laugh and it came so easy.
I wish you could come out of retirement like Michael Jordan did. But you
can't. So I'm glad we already said, many times, all the things we needed
to say to each other. Mark, I know I owe you for the chinese food last
Friday night but you owe me for the Ohio State game, so we'll just call
it even.
I'll see you again.
Love, Jack
