Oh man, you worded that so much better than I did. Hey, you should consider this writing thing if the blog doesn't work out ;) I, however, won't give up my day job just yet. HA!

Good scene in the context of the film (if memory serves, earlier in this conversation, Andy "admits" to killing his wife [he drove her away] after denying it [30 years?]. The tone is almost more desperation, not wonder, also, red and the rest of the crew have a conversation following this about whether Andy is suicidal or not so at this point the audience is on track for something big). The fascinating thing about this scene is to read it from Andy's perspective. At this point chronologically, the letter doesn't exist. It's the one part of his plan that relys on someone else and it all comes down to hope, the hope that Red will go to the field.