Letter to Mom (who died shortly before my trip)

I have been thinking of you on and off ever since I got here. There is so much I want to tell you!! I know you would find this place really interesting, and especially the trip we took during the last two days. We traveled to the southern-most tip of India, and stood on a rock island looking south, where the Indian Ocean meets the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal. From here straight south, the next land is Antarctica (but we couldn't see it...) The Indians like to talk about the meeting-point of the three oceans, and from the way they talk about it, you almost expect to see a three-sided wall or a big hole with three waterfalls pouring into it, or at the very least three different colors of water!!! It's almost a disappointment to see that it's just plain old salt sea-water, and all of it, no matter whether south, west or east of you - is just as wet. Still, it is beautiful. There is a memorial to Gandhi (really weird architecture), a three-thousand year old temple, and a couple of rock islands, one of which houses another (newer) temple, and another that is so small that the only thing that will fit on it is one (huge) statue of a famous Indian poet, pretty much the size of the Statue of Liberty. At night when they light it up, you can almost think you're in Coney Island - except for all the Indian peddlers that are trying to sell you sea-shells.

I'll probably tell you more about this trip in my next letter, but in this one, I just wanted to tell you that I still miss you enormously, and think about you often. I know that so much of my capability to enjoy what I'm doing is due to you. I know that the way I see the world, nature, people and culture; and the way I tell about them afterwards - is greatly affected by the way you did the same.

I was just talking to a girl in my dormitory, and she told me how her letters to her parents are only about the weather, because they can't understand what she would want to travel away from home for, and they can't understand her interest in anything outside the familiar circle of life. It isn't everyone who is fortunate enough to have parents who are so open and accepting, who take an interest in just about everything - who you can tell about your thoughts and adventures, and have a really open ear. I really am glad that we did have time to be together, to talk and to laugh (you mentioned it yourself when I was staying with you, how much we were laughing together). I'm glad that I learned all that I did learn from you - I think it was priceless, and I know that it is a huge part of who I am today. I wish I could have more time with you. I love you, and miss you very much (especially when I have stories to tell...)