Parker’s Christmas Party
Rich,
Hey there. Nice to hear from you! It just isn’t Christmas until we talk, at least once during the holiday season. You’ve become such a fixture around this time of year, you know.
Unfortunately, It’s unlikely that I’ll be able to make your party this year. I’m in the process of yet another move – back to Altoona again. Can you believe it?
I got another apartment here with noisy neighbors who just won’t be quiet – stomping, slamming doors, yelling, and so on. Happens several times a day and I’m once again at my wits end.
The land lord has been very nice and agreed to let me out of my lease if I move by the end of this month. So, the weekend of your party, I’ll probably be packing boxes. Now it may turn out that I can get away, depending on how the packing goes. We’ll have to play it by ear. However if you absolutely must know now if I can make it, the answer would have to be “no” with regrets. But if not, I may just surprise you with a visit. Stand by. We’ll talk at greater length about this and I’ll fill you in on all the details.
Sorry to hear about your girl and her arm. I suspect though that she’ll recover quickly. She’s got lots of spirit and seems very happy. Happy people generally handle medical situations quite well. Give her my regards, please.
Haven’t talked with [Mentat] in about a month. going to try and give him a call sometime during the next week or so. He had said something about coming home for the holidays. Have you heard whether he is or not? It’d be wonderful if he could get in.
Well, I’m off to bed. Take care, and thanks much for thinking of me. I’ll call you sometime during the next week and we can catch up a bit more. 
Later.
Tom Hesley