Dear Rick,

I do indeed know exactly where you are right now and it's just where I would expect to find you. You see, I understood a long time ago that your agnosticism had in it a deep awareness of our human limits in understanding... you just didn't presume to say you "knew," and you were looking forward to finding out. And I respected you for that so much that even when I knew you were going-- all the signs were clear, I mean DUH, tribute threads, gosh, what do THOSE usually mean-- even when I could see the close gathering-in of the ones dearest to you, I never put your ass out on the prayer chain, especially when I most wanted to. It would not have been right... oh I prayed, myself-- I'd told you I would, and that was OK with you, but I didn't make your choice to go your own way into something for others to fasten onto. I knew that people who pray, would pray, and ya know, that's enough of that shit.

But I never worried about you. You see, I do know where I am going, and for me, it just would not be heaven if you were not there. And ya see, buddy, this last year? I figured out sumpin really important. I figured out that if the Bible's true, dead folks in heaven are required to spend eternity singing, and being actually joyful. And the people I know? Sheeshe, there is NO WAY they are ready for that, crabby buncha crap-brains most of us are most of the time. Well, there's gotta be a buncha people laying about near the gate to teach folks how to sing. Yup. Yer right in the middle of the "Welcome to Glory" newbies' songcircle, delighted and surprised at each human bean's soul that comes by, laffin with 'em as they encounter the Truth and start to dig it. You among all the people I know are just the one to help them pass on into the music thing they were too bungled-up-inside to get into, in earthly life.

So I am looking forward to having heaven my way-- I always get my way, ask Hardi-- and that means you WILL be there, so you must be there now!

And I hope you will do one thing for me when I get there, a little like you did here at the Cat-- you'll tell me the REAL inside skinny on how to get along so I don't make a TOTAL ass of myself (just nearly total), but you will let me figure out the important parts myself, and we'll laff and laff about the wacky things dead folks can see once they aren't so worried about all that earth-people crap.

Another really good thing for you to do Up There is to help living folks see each other better. You had this trick of being so curious about life and people living it, that Usual Assumptions were not worth much and it could get real easy to see inside a thing to what really mattered about it. We could use a lot more of that around here, and a nudge now and then to screw our eyes on straight would be a big help, if it's not too much like being productive.

Love, and yes in heaven I WILL play slide guitar AND clawhammer banjo,

~Susan