Yiannis Levendis Letter - Northeastern Professor

Dear Jack,
It has been sometimes that I have not seen you. In the meantime, I have been receiving news about your medical condition from Henning and from the internet blog.
I have not contacted you as I did not want to be intrusive and as I also faced family issues.
But having read a poem recently I thought about you a lot. So, on this Thanksgiving Day I decided to write you a note, to share this poem with you. You may already know of it; I didn’t until recently.
One night I dreamed I was walking along the beach with the Lord. Many scenes from my life flashed across the sky.
In each scene I noticed footprints in the sand. Sometimes there were two sets of footprints, other times there was one only.
This bothered me because I noticed that during the low periods of my life, when I was suffering from anguish, sorrow or defeat, I could see only one set of footprints, so I said to the Lord,
“You promised me Lord,that if I followed you, you would walk with me always. But I have noticed that during the most trying periods of my life there has only been one set of footprints in the sand. Why, when I needed you most, have you not been there for me?”
The Lord replied, “The years when you have seen only one set of footprints, my child, is when I carried you.”
By Mary Stevenson, 1936
I can only hope that now that the first round of your treatments is over, that we will see positive changes and we will see again two sets of footprints in the sand.
Jack, you are a rare breed of a gentleman and it has always been a sheer pleasure dealing with you.
When we meet you brighten my days. I look forward to many more of those bright days.
Your friend,
Yiannis A. Levendis