DEAR ABBY: Your letters about putting cash or checks in sympathy cards remind me of the one and only time I was the recipient of such a gift. In 1966, my first husband, Barry, committed suicide, leaving me a widow at age 26. We were living in Los Angeles. Barry worked for a mail courier service and got to know an African-American gentleman who was a supervisor at the post office. He and his wife became our friends, and it was they who tucked a few bills in their sympathy card. It made me wonder if they came from a wiser and more generous culture than I did.
I will always remember Ben and Claire Gibson for their precious gift of friendship and the opportunity to get to know their friends and family. Thanks to that beginning, I have been open to and able to form other such precious friendships. I've lost contact with them, but if they are still on this Earth, I hope they will read this. You may print my name. -– JOCELYN KEENAN HOWELLS, PORTLAND, ORE.
DEAR JOCELYN: You're right. The gift of their friendship was more valuable and long-lasting than the money. I, too, hope they read your letter.