The following letter was sent to Over 60 columnist Stanley Greenberg, in response to his column, "A Suburban Tragedy," and is being reprinted for the Syosset-Jericho Tribune.

Dear Dr. Stanley Greenberg:

My husband Mark and I were profoundly touched and appreciative of your descriptive account of the tragic fire which so totally devastated our dental practice here in Jericho. What made your article so powerful to us was your deep appreciation and sympathetic, insightful grasp of the consequences of such a fire on the lives of fellow members of the community.

You wrote of our loss through the eyes of a former practicing dentist. That, coupled with your wonderful journalist skills, gave both voice and poignancy to the unfortunate situation. Your description of seeing, from the street, our awards, plaques and laminated degrees hanging from walls blackened by fire depicted our lives and present situation very graphically. We were personally moved by your deeper understanding.

Our dental practice at this location is of course at an end. We have contacted our patients to inform them of our temporary inability to provide them with the fine care they have come to expect from us. We are so very grateful for the compassion they expressed for our loss. Their kind words and thoughts for our personal well-being were very comforting and highly appreciated.

We are, of course, saddened and disheartened by our terrible loss, but at the same time anxious to re-establish our practice and put our lives back in order. We have already taken the necessary steps in searching for an appropriate location and hope very soon to announce the reopening of the dental practice of Dr. Mark and Dr. Lea Bram. [The Brams have now successfully moved their dental practice to the Morton Village Shopping Center, located in Plainview on Old Country Road. It is not yet open.]

While the fire did decimate the physical office, we are grateful that it occurred during the night and that no one was in the building.

Our office insurance will cover part of the rebuilding process. We are very thankful and grateful for the outpouring of generosity and support from fellow professionals. It was a wonderful feeling to see so many professionals quickly and unselfishly come to our aid and support.

We want to thank you for your concerns and personal understanding of our situation and for bringing to the attention of your readers the important lesson that there is life and hope after a setback. It is important for all people to know that with life often comes unexplained and unplanned misfortunes. The important thing is that we must learn to never give up, despite setbacks and adversities.

We would like to thank Brad Barth for his article on the fire. We have personally learned through the crafted words of journalists such as yourselves that a newspaper serves a very important function in the lives of its citizenry besides bringing us the news and sports. It helps bring us all a bit closer as human beings. It reminds us of the importance of having faith in the goodness of each other and that we all, at various times in our lives, need the support and friendship that outstretched arms offer us in those terrible times. Both Mark and I are very appreciative for your kind expressions.

Dr. Mark and Dr. Lea Bram