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Dear Ann Landers,
hank you so much for the wonderful experi-ence you made possible by printing our letter. When I first wrote to you, all I wanted to do was thank the woman who had been so kind to us. With only her name to go on, I hoped that she or a friend might see your column. This succeeded better than I could ever have imagined. Bea, a teacher in Frankfurt, Germany, heard from a multitude of friends all around the world, some of whom she hadn't seen in 20 years. She wrote you to say she was coming to see us. Two local TV stations and 2 (i 2 ANN LANDERS the St. Louis Post-Dispatch covered our reunion. We exchanged gifts, shared remembrances, had dinner and promised to stay in touch. I am so glad that I was able to share with Bea the joy that I feel hav-ing adopted our little girl. Bea is as nice as she seemed when we first met her, and she told us this was the most exciting month of her life. Please let your readers know that acts of kindness do count for some-thing. They help to make this world a better place. And so do you, Ann.

Dear Jim, Charlotte and Valla,
That cheering you hear in the background is all those readers who were hoping you and Bea Mc- Graw would reunite. And you did-in a great big way. I love stories with happy endings, and this certainly is one. I was deeply moved when Ogden Nash selected my column as a subject for his verse. When I read of his death in May of 1911,1 regretted that I never had the pleasure of meeting him. He was one of my favorites. The opening line of his poem is evidence that he understood what my column is all about, and it pleases me immensely: But I Could Not Love Thee, Ann, So Much, Loved I Not Honore More Ogden Nash Some find the world in a grain of sand, I in the correspondence of Ann Landers. I eavesdrop unabashed as she spoons out her acerb sauce with even hand On lachrymose geese and truculent ganders. Her desk is positively formicating, which means swarming with moving beings, Although I might well employ the other word that sounds like unto it. Because her mail consists mosdy of letters from those embittered ones ' Who have discovered about illicit sex that often there are more headaches than fun to it. A present-day Emma Lazarus, she cries, Give me your huddled problems, The wretched refuse of your wrongs, unwrap for me your festering sores and stigmas; The Rest he Ann Lamnfns 2 ft 3 Your poison is my meat, Be it alcoholism, infidelity, frigidity, satyriasis, premarital pregnancy or borborygmus. Yes, if anyone's Gordian love knot requires a blade more cutting than Alexander's, Let them call on Ann Landers. No pussy-footer she, no purveyor of admonitions soothing or polite; It's tell the bum to jump in the lake, tell the old bag to go fly a kite. If Anne of Cleves would have written to Ann Landers I bet Henry would have thought twice before calling her the mare of Flanders. From a human comedy as varied as Balzac's I choose for you one excerpt. The ultimate in walls of poignant woe, The plaint of a teenager who doubted the affection of her boy friend because the only compliment he ever paid her was You sweat less than any fat girl I know. And finally, here are my two most-requested recipes: Best-Ever Lemon Pie baked pie shell 1'/ cups sugar 6 tablespoons cornstarch cups water '/ cup lemon juice egg yolks VA teaspoons lemon extract teaspoons vinegar tablespoons butter Mix sugar and cornstarch together in top of double boiler. Add the two cups of water. Combine egg yolks with juice and beat. Add to rest of mixture. Cook until thick over boiling water for 25 minutes. This does away with starchy taste. Now add lemon extract, butter and vine-gar, and stir thoroughly. Pour into deep 9-inch pie shell and let cool. Cover with meringue, and brown in oven. 2 (i 4 / ANN LANDERS Never-Fail Meringue tablespoon cornstarch tablespoons cold water 'A cup boiling water egg whites 6 tablespoons sugar teaspoon vanilla pinch of salt Blend cornstarch and cold water in a saucepan. Add boiling water and cook, stirring until clear and thickened. Let stand until completely cold. With electric beater at high speed, beat egg whites until foamy. Gradually add sugar, and beat until stiff but not dry. Turn mixer to low speed, add salt and vanilla. Gradually beat in cold cornstarch mixture. Turn mixer again to high speed and beat well. Spread meringue over cooled pie filling. Bake at 350 degrees for about 10 minutes. Meat Loaf pounds ground round steak 2 eggs 1'/ cups bread crumbs % cup ketchup 1 tsp. Accent 'A cup warm water package Lipton's onion soup mix 8-ounce can Hunt's tomato sauce strips bacon (optional) Mix all ingredients together except tomato sauce and bacon. Put into loaf pan; cover with 2 strips bacon if you wish. Pour tomato sauce over all. Bake one hour at 350 degrees. Serves six. Addictions: The Wrecking Ball of Love, Health and Careers The human body responds in a variety of ways to what we put into it. Some of those ways are unhealthy and can even kill us. I am not a drinker and never have been. I have often told my teenage read-ers that it's better not to take that very first drink than to try to quit when you're hooked. There are those who drink to drown their sorrows. Unfortu-nately, sorrow knows how to swim.



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Dear Readers,
, whatever they needed I provided. What really hurt my son and I the most was the obituary - we were not mentioned at all. Our friends (mine and hers) were appalled. I was embarrassed and upset for not just me, but for my son-who loved her also. I never been so upset. Her x-husband put his wife and kids and their grandchildren in the obituary, who my girlfriend barely knew. They live an hour away from us. I know its silly to be mad over a little section of the newspaper, but it still hurts. Will time let this devastating loss of her and this article ever go away? I am so angry at this whole situation, its not like we can go and rewrite an obituary notice.

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"Expect trouble as an inevitable part of life and repeat to yourself, the most comforting words of all; this, too, shall pass."
-Ann Landers