"T R S"??? It was early October, 1993. My dad had picked me up from work, and we were on our way home. He mentioned that he had grabbed the mail out of the box on his way over. I picked it up off the floor of the car so as not to step all over it. As we drove home, I glanced through it. I always remember September 11th, as it is the birthday of my favorite singer, Tommy Shaw. So, I got into the habit of sending him a birthday card, a funny one, each year. I didn't ever expect an answer. I had learned from experience that most people in show business just don't have the time to write to fans. The best I could really hope for might be a mass-mailed postcard. But sometimes, you cross paths with a very special person... I get very car sick, very easily. And so, the best I could do was glance through the mail...and even a glance ran the risk of dizziness and a nagging headache. But there it was: A business sized envelope, white, with my name and address handwritten, precisely right. This person spelled my name the right way: W-R-E-N-N-E H-A-Z-A-R-D. So many people write "Hazzard", or "Wrenn", "Wren", "Renn", etc., etc. But, this person did NOT. There was no return address. The only clue to a location was a Los Angeles postmark. Now, who would write to me who lives in LA? I had several penpals at the time, but noone in LA. I thought it must be somebody returning a Friendship Book. These are little booklets that penpals make for each other, and pass them along in letters. The last person to sign it either returns it to its maker, or the person for whom it was made. Ordinarily, when you receive an FB, you sign your name, address, and hobbies, then pass it along to a penpal. These help penpals find new penpals, advertise crafts they sell, fanclubs, etc. There are many permutations of the FB. I turned the envelope over, and studied the three imprinted initials: T R S. Now, I had just finished work. I was a beat up, worn out bank teller, and my brain was just a mite dead at that time of day, so, it took me a little while. 'T R S'???? I feel as though I should....OH MY GAWD!!! I was still riding in the car, and I couldn't open the letter because I'd get sick---couldn't even sneak a peak, because I'd get sick, so, somehow, I waited until I got home. Yep, managed to get upstairs, opened the letter, and read what you see above: September 31, 1993 [Imprinted on the stationery in black, upper right hand corner: TOMMY SHAW] Dear Wrenne, Thanks for the card. And it feels like my best year yet.[I had written in his birthday card that I hoped it would be his best year yet.] Jack and I begin writing for our duet LP in October and you can expect that in late spring of '94. Hope all's well in Ruxton and look for the Yanks again in '95. Cheers! Tommy Ta daaa! THANK YOU FOR THIS, TOMMY! The thing I love most about this note is that SEPTEMBER HAS ONLY 30 DAYS!! :-) Links to other sites on the Web Home This page hosted by Get your own Free Home Page