L. R. Bears Funeral Home

"Just Plain Nice"

2954 Anderson Ave.

Phone 2-1189

Fort Myers, Florida

Sunday Night

Dear Pat and Pricilla,

I know you have given me out for writing and thought that I had ignored the fact that you have been making a great sacrifice for all of us.

Beleive me when I say that I am proud of both of you and now have the greatest respect for both of your opinion and your judgment in following what you believe in. You know, there are so few people in this world who are ready to make a sacrifice and to stick to what is really their conviction. Both of you have shown the world that you are individuals with individualistic ideas and sticklers in what you believe to be right. So few of us have ever considered the fact that the real issues in life are hinged around the fact that it is not [whether] we are right but [whether] we stick with what is right. You have been convinced that the cause is right and that above all things what you are fighting for is right so you have challenged the ideas of long established customs and traditions to fight for what is right. As [someone] has said recently you have only begun to scratch the surface of the fight that is to free every one of us from the bondage of second class citizenship and the ever fight for respect as human beings in this world. Your names shall go down in history as having opened the eyes of the world to conditions that so many persons have accepted. Ones that we were very complacent about. No fight is won in a day. No issues are decided in a moment. No conditions are changed over night and there has to be a start to every battle for freedom you have fired the first gun in Florida. There will be others who will follow you in taking up arms against the conditions that exist. The forces that do not want to accept the changes are always the ones who will try to do those things they think will cause us to hold our heads in shame and ridicule us for our actions. There are even some who because of their selfishness and their fear of being ridiculed and losing their positions (because of their selfish motives) will not want to be associated with us in this fight. These cannot stop the wheels of progress. They are so few that their voices will be lost in the wilderness. And yet when the battle is over and the smoke has cleared away they will be the first ones to come up and say, look what we have accomplished.

You both have my moral and spiritual support in your efforts And I do want you to feel free to call on me [anytime]. I am enclosing something for spending change for both of you. Much Luck and God Bless you and you have my prayers.

[Signature] Mr. Bear