Mr. Lay:

First, I want to say that I've been a dedicated employee of Enron for 9 years now and, looking back over that time, it's been the greatest period of my life, career-wise.  When I first went to work for Enron, I was almost starry eyed.  I was working for the home town team and it was just the greatest company I had ever been associated with.  I started out with Enron Power Corp. and the energy and focus within that group was just incredible.

I've seen a lot of change over the past 9 years.  Some great, some good and some not so good.  But all in all, I would do it all over again in a heart beat, because I still trust in the core of this company and decisions our management have made.  But most of all, we've still got great people.  Based on the current events of the past 3 to 6 months, it does indeed look like we are going to have to "do it all over again".  However, I am an eternal optimist.  Looking at this in football terms...  this is a rebuilding year and we've got a bright future with a young team and a deep bench.

One thing I always hung my hat on was the integrity that both you and Rich Kinder exuded.  I was saddened to see Mr. Kinder move on, but I was confident that having you remain behind would continue our successes.  And we have been successful.  Aside from the LJM issue (which, to be honest, I still don't fully understand), I think we've just had some external distractions that have hampered our stock growth this year, such as Dabhol, Portland General, California, etc., in addition to the market conditions in general.  

In the all-employee meeting, you told the troops that it was going to take the continued dedication and hard work from all of us to get things going in the right direction in order for us to dig out from this mess.  I am fully prepared to do this, however, there is one request I would like to bring up.  I know I am not the only person out there who has options that are going to expire at the end of this year.  In all my wildest dreams (or nightmares), I would have never envisioned the stock getting low enough to threaten a grant price of $21.563, but here we are.  As a dedicated and confident employee, I hung in there early in the year and listened to all indications around me that the stock would go to 100.  Later in the year, as the stock moved downward, I heard indications that we were going to bounce back strong.  I was on board.  I was excited.  I trusted that this was the case.  In fact, I look back on this past year and, based on what I knew at the time, I would probably do the same thing over again.

But...   that was then and this is now.  It has been painful for me, as I know it has been for you and all others with a stake in this company.  I want to get us back to our heyday and am willing to commit to that end.  

My request is simple...    is there any way possible to extend options expiring at the end of this year by one year?

If you want to make a good faith gesture towards long-time employees who are willing to re-dedicate themselves to the daunting task at hand, I can think of nothing better for the short term.   I think extending the expiration date on options would go a long way towards healing an Enron employee population who need some good news in the midst of this situation we find ourselves in.  

If you can't do anything, I will understand.  I know your office has always had an open door policy with respect to e-mail feedback, but this is the first one I've ever written.  I always contend that it never hurts to ask in a situation like this.

Mark