John writes his letter to his son to both create an image, or memory, of himself for the boy and to detail his family legacy. John wishes to pass along everything he can to his son. John wants to share physical things including his beloved books, his boxes of sermons, and even a picture of Soapy the cat. John laments the decay of material things, calling it a “humiliation” (100) and commenting that there are things he dearly wishes could be saved. He hates the thought of his church being torn down and recommends that the trustees save memory-rich (to John) items like the rooster weathervane. At the same time, John fears that his son and others won’t value the things he treasured when he was alive.

John wants to be known, and even more important than handing down physical things is the passing on of his memories, so that his child will know John and his own history. John writes, “There are so many things you would never think to tell anyone. And I believe they may be the things that mean most to you, and that even your own child would have to know in order to know you well at all” (102).