Dearest Joshua,
These will be the final words of mine that you shall read. By the time these words reach you, the poison will have claimed me. I will always love you and I will always love the man Barnabas was. Tonight, you showed me a capacity for care I thought was a distant memory. For that, I thank you.
Our son is a murderer, and for that, someone must atone. There was little meaning to our lives. Now, there is none. Tragedy is now the constant rule rather than a passing exception. In such a world, I cannot continue. You can, and thus, you are worthy of living, perhaps because of your stalwart inability to love. I have not the strength for that.
Farewell,
Naomi