Dear Mother:

         I have your letter of March 31, 1960, with the enclosures and the terrible news about Mr. Kuntz' boy's death. It certainly was tragic.

         I am delighted that you and Paul got together, yes, indeed, there are many similarities between he and Earl.

         I am glad you like the ring, and I certainly hope the stones match. I thought that the sapphires were the same identical color and cut as your bracelet.

         Amused at Paul's story at getting things through customs in Hawaii. I hope he doesn't rely on that all his life....because he may end up in jail.

         The mail problem here is, as usual,......bad......and getting worse. When the LIFE magazine article as well as the CBS "Story of a Cancer" hit and The Digest all come out as well as my returning to America....well, it's going to be staggering. I never want to be tied by my mail, and as long as I have Teresa and people in New York to help, I believe that I never shall be. However, even here in Asia, not from the New York Office, but directly to me there come about a 100 letters a day, 60 of which demand an answer......out of sheer kindness and thoughtfulness of the people who write, and, then, I am in such a wonderful position to give people happiness, the simple answering becomes tremendously important, to me. I do most of my dictation at about this time of night, 11, 12, or 1 a.m.

         Paul told you that I would arrive in the States on May 8th, that is as plans stand now. I just found out the date myself today when I received a letter from you and one from Paul.

         I don't know what you mean when you write "after some big thing that is to be given for you, and after you finish with Dr. McNeer, I think you will come out here to see me." I only know that the day after I arrive in America I am going to see Dr. McNeer either as a two or three day out-patient, or hospitalized in Memorial. I must have my major press conference, and whether that is held the day I arrive or after my hospitalization I have not yet decided, nor will I...that is what I have the public relations people to decide for me. I shall come to St. Louis as soon as I can after my hospitalization and/or check-up, but I am sure you understand that I don't want to come there until that time.

         I believe truthfully, mother, that it is best for you, if you do not come to New York to meet me, because of the circumstances that always involve my arriving from overseas, especially at this time. All of the hubbub and running around only upsets you, and it upsets me tremendously when I see how displeased you are about the lack of time that you and I can have together. Therefore for your peace of mind I think it best that you do not come to New York to meet me, after all, I've only been gone a few months, and I will be in St. Louis a few days after I arrive.

         I've just notified that I am to receive the Layman Award of the Year from the Religious Heritage of America, Inc. This is quite a wonderful award and they want to have a banquet for me in Washington in June, which I have requested that they invite you to. I do not know of any other major awards that are planned, and the New York Office is pretty well handling the lectures. Though I'm not 100% decided, I am about 75% sure that I would like to stay in America for only six weeks or so, (if all goes well with the doctor) and then return back here to this country. There are many things that are left hanging here, and I would like to wind them up. . .I suppose I will never have a feeling of complete accomplishment, there always seems to be more things to do.

         With a team coming into Viet Nam and the Ban Houei Sai team I feel as though I want to have these two programs well established. . . and I go to Malaya around the 24th and am anxious to see that program underway.

         The new role that I am, and reluctantly, accepting is that I do more traveling around this part of the world as sort of the Asian Chief of Missions ....or Chief of Asian Missions. This entails, this demands that there be another doctor out here, as we have one already. . .but it is not the kind of man that I would like to have here. Dr. Hautman is a wonderful kind and gentle man of about 60 years old who has spent most of his life in village medicine. He does not, he is not especially dynamic, but then I have done that much for him, he simply has to run the hospital, even the administration is being handled by one of my men. In the running of my hospital I am sure he will be excellent. With the airplane to help him the problem of commutation between the Muong Sing and Ban Houei Sai hospitals will be worked out, I am sure.

         Ban Houei Sai is coming along very well. The hospital is underway and our house is almost done. All the furniture and icebox and stove and motor boat that I bought in Bangkok was shipped to northern Bangkok and are now there in a town that you can find on your map and it is called Chieng Rai. I h1ave sent Tom Kirby up river three hours by motor boat to a town called Chieng Seng, from there he can go by bus to Chieng Rai load our equipment on trucks bring them to Chieng Seng and float down the river to Ban Houei Sai. We should have all that in another day or so. The clinic building, formerly the (word not clear) is being painted and fixed up like new. The new hospital building which Hawaii is paying for will be finished in about four or five weeks.

         Peter and his wife are arriving here on the 17th in Asia and will stay here with me until the 22d. At that time I leave for the Isle of Kong where the Prime Minister is giving a going-away party for me and then down to Phnom Penh Bangkok and about the 25th off to Malaya.

         Earl and Dwight had a very wonderful ceremony the other day and were given the order of Knight of the Million Elephants and White Parasol. It was a very wonderful thing, and they were tremendously excited about it. I was, too.

         That's about all the information for now, I am anxious to get this off tomorrow when the plane goes down to Vientiane. It was a very exciting two days because Arthur Godfrey came to see us. He was in Hong Kong and somebody from my Office sent him a telegram pointing out that Hong Kong was very near Laos and why didn't he visit Tom Dooley, and they gave him my address. A very excellent manuever on the part of my Office. Godfrey cabled me, I cabled back and said "delighted" and two days later Jerry picked him up in Bangkok. He had a wonderful visit here, and we had quite a fabulous time. He made a recording which is going to be played on thel2th of April and I asked him to send you a telegram to that effect. He left for Bangkok yesterday in my plane and the plane returned today. Well, that's it for now, mother.

         I will see you soonest, much love,

Always,

Tom/teg

P.S. Seems amazing to think that today, the 8th of April, exactly one month from the day I get back to America, and it seems like I just left.