Canon of Virginia, where Miimii (current ex-wife/ex-current wife) worked, had a Christmas party, so we got dressed up, and had all the free Sushi we could eat. Quite a lot of alcoholic beverages too. I was the designated driver, so I watched her get drunk. I always thought her hair style on this photo looked like that of John Candy in "SPACE BALLS". Your thoughts?
Seeing how depressed and inconsollable Dad was from his cancer, I tried to think of a way to cheer him up. I knew he loved the singing cowboy of the 1930's-50's, Gene Autry. I joked to Miimii,"If Gene Autry visited him, I bet THAT would cheer him up". If only...but wait. I sat there that Sunday night watching TV, and it ate at me...a crazy idea, yes, but what if? How many times had movie stars visited terminally ill patients? We had no books in the house, no computer, no information source except a 1994 World Almanac. How would one contact Gene Autry from Virginia? He'd once owned the California Angels baseball team, so I looked up pro-baseball teams in my almanac, found an address, and wrote an appeal address to Gene Autry.
Weeks passed. One day I received a copy of a letter from Mr. Autry, and a signed photo. I was confused, and wrote back, thanking him for the letter, but asking if he sent one to my father. I didn't want to ask Mom because it was to be a surprise. Mother never said a thing. I asked her,"Have you received any strange mail lately?" I told my brother what I'd done. He began dropping hints to Mom also, with no results, until one night he asked, "Have you received any mail from any celebrities lately?" Mom said,"No...oh, well, a signed photo and a letter from Gene Autry a month ago, but that's all". My first question was,"And you didn't consider that to be strange mail? Does Gene Autry write you often?" That's my mom...*sigh*
She said Dad was so tickled that he put it on the coffee table and showed it to everyone. After being a fan for nearly 60 years, he'd received encouragement from his idol. Mom said they thought their insurance company had sent it, but never did explain why. At Christmas I told Mom I'd sent it, but I had to tell her many times. She didn't quite understand.
Autry was 88 years old, and after that I wrote him two letters to fill him in on my father's condition. I regret not sending him a birthday card for his 90th birthday because he died on October 2, 1998, three days after his 91st.
