GW at Mount Vernon, where he wrote his nephew George Lewis and expressed his deepest sorrow over the death of his mother, Betty Washington Lewis, who was GW’s sister born in 1733.  GW noted that such a death is “heart rending” but “reason religeon & Philosophy, teach us to bear it with resignation” as “time alone can ameliorate, & soften the pangs we experience at parting.”  Heavily engaged in making repairs at Mount Vernon, GW also asked Lewis if he could recommend a  “good House Joiner (white or black) . . . who could be relied on for his sobriety & diligence.”