ABSTRACT
Mabel turned sixty-five on February 26, 1944 and hosted a birthday party in Santa Fe, hoping A. A. and Rose Brill would join her there at La Fonda Hotel for the celebration. In a lost communication, she had written to him about her current physical complaint of urinary frequency, likely the symptom he minimizes in his next letter as due merely to psychological causes. Although Brill sends a telegram announcing that he and Rose cannot come, he promises another trip, which never happened. Brill's recollection that he is unfamiliar with her novel is completely incorrect: he had acknowledged receiving "the manuscript" on December 7, 1938 and reported to her on February 6, 1939. In Mabel's last existing letter to Brill, she presents herself in good spirits, with confidence and an energetic, self-reflective voice. The poignancy of her claim that "the mother" is the sole source of vitality is aching in its painful contrast with her own barren childhood.
