Dear Henry

Dear Henry:

In life some things work out and some things don't. The big question is how hard to try to make things work that don't.

Here is something that worked very nicely.





Isn't it nice that Ari got to meet Suzanne. But now that I think about it he may have met her once when he joined you for a clinic visit. Did you know that because your birthdays are so close, he and you would have had your Bar Mitzvahs together at Adas Israel. That would have been some party. Ari told Linda and Mom that he wants to dedicate his Bar Mitzvah to you. He is a special person. You are lucky to have him as a friend. He and Rachel and Sid and Linda have been so good to you and to us. They are all very special.

And now here is something that didn't work out.

-----Original Message-----
From: Goldberg, Allen
Sent: Friday, May 23, 2003 3:31 PM
To: 'tbeddow@mmm.com'
Subject: The Marrow Foundation Dinner

Tom:

I wanted to introduce myself to you the other night at the Marrow Foundation dinner, but you left before I could find you. I wanted to thank you for coming to XM, and ask for some guidance with regard to 3M. I'd like to find out who is the right person to present the following.

When my son Henry was immune compromised after his bone marrow transplant, my wife and I struggled to get him to wear the 3M filtration masks that protected him from airborne bacteria. Two years post-transplant, Henry's immune system was weaker than it had been immediately post-transplant. The 3M masks, for us, meant life or death. Ever since Henry was first required to wear a mask in public I thought there could be an easier way to get him to wear it without the struggle. Clearly 3M can make the masks more fun and less frightening (to Henry and those he met in public) by imprinting them with cartoon and superhero characters and logos. For Henry, Pokemon characters would have made his mask as welcome a part of his wardrobe as his Pokemon t-shirts, Batman socks and Rugrats band-aids.

I'm sure you'll agree that 3M is in a unique position to help out the neediest patients and their families. Thanks for reading through this and I welcome your thoughts how best to proceed.

Regards,

Allen

-----Original Message-----
From: tfbeddow@mmm.com [mailto:tfbeddow@mmm.com]
Sent: Sunday, June 22, 2003 3:33 PM
To: Goldberg, Allen
Subject: RE: checking in

Allen, after carefully considering this idea the Vice President of our Medical Products Division has decided that we cannot pursue it at this time. The overwhelming backorder situation we have due to SARS and the anticipated stockpiling of masks against future outbreaks of this time have us totally focused on ramping up the supply chain. Frankly another key
element in the decision is liability. We are faced with 10's of thousands of frivolous claims that our masks did not protect workers from asbestos, silica and other materials. Logic of course tells you that any mask is better than none at all but that does not stop lawsuit abuse. The very sensitive areas of health testing of children and marketing to children would seem to create another opportunity for the trial bar. I know how personal this is for you and regret that we could not find a way to pursue your idea.

Wow, that isn't the answer I was hoping to get. Henry, this is sad for so many reasons. I don't know if this is the end of the idea of providing fun masks. I hope it isn't. I just need to think of another way to do it. I have someone really smart helping me with this and I think he can make it happen. I'll keep you up to date with how we are doing.

Hey, there is some good news on the Pokemon and Batman fronts. I already may have told you this but we can use the logos on your headstone. The people who needed to say "okay," did just that. We are going to meet with the man from the cemetery to get some of the details hammered out and they'll get to work soon.

Mom has worked hard to set up a foundation in your name, the Hope for Henry Foundation, to help kids and their families who are in the hospital having bone marrow transplants. To be honest, Mom has done most of the work and I haven't been as much help as I should be. I just throw out ideas, like getting photo booths (like the ones at the beach) for the floor so kids and their visitors can take photos of themselves. The friends can take pictures and leave them with the kid who is the patient. Then the kid who is stuck in the hospital can have photos of their friends around all of the time. Also, the kid who is in the hospital can take pictures of themselves with their doctors and nurses. These photo booths cost a few hundred bucks. I think we can get ones for Georgetown and Hackensack and Minnesota. I also want all of the kids to have XM radios so they can listen to XM Kids. I will work hard to make these things happen. Mommy is much more low-tech than I am. She wants to do nice things like get warm snuggly blankets for the kids.

A really good guy at work came to talk to me last week about a different foundation that sets up super cool home theaters at childrens' hospitals. He wants our company to help out. He told me how great it would make us feel to help out sick kids. He didn't know anything about you and about how well I know hospitals. I finally said, "You had me at hello," which is from a movie, called Jerry Maguire. It means that I was ready to help and he didn't need to "sell me." The funny thing is that Mommy and I saw Jerry Maguire not too long after you were born and we both cried all the way through. It wasn't a sad movie at all. It is just that there was a really cute little boy in the movie. That set off the tears. I remember thinking at the time that I wasn't going to be able to have my cute little boy for very long.

I wanted to tell you something. I have been taking some peeks at Harry Potter and they mention a kid who I believe must be the first Jewish wizard in all of the books, Anthony Goldstein. I'll be out to read to you soon. The weather is nicer now. There was a whole day without rain.

Miss you.

Dad