Two Wonderful Notes to Get

Got two wonderful notes via email today. The first concerned two friends whom I met when they came--separately--as guests on one of my trips to Amazon. I saw them a couple of weeks ago when I officiated at their wedding and this morning, early AM when I couldn't sleep, I got a note from Tree that he and his new bride, Mandala, were on the way to the hospital for her to give birth to their baby. I hope it's a good one, guys. Give him or her a beautiful life. Erin go Braugh! and Mazaltov!
(UPDATE: The baby Lander Caiman, was born 9-8-8, 7:25 PM at a healthy 7lb 6.5oz and everyone is doing fine. Hooray!)


The second note came out of the blue. My father was a Broadway actor and raised the six of us on an actor's salary. And he was damned good. Probably better as an actor than I am a writer. My mother,a noted radio actress who stayed at home for several years to raise us, finally went back to school and became a speech teacher in the New York Public school system for maybe 15 years before she returned to acting a couple of years before her death.
But she must have affected at least one person. Here's the note I got from a former student of hers that I didn't even know existed. And it must be at least 36 years since she was a student because my father died in 1972:

"The internet is a wonderful thing. Whenever I think of someone from my past, I Google. Today for no apparent reason, I thought of my speech teacher from Richmond Hill High School Mrs. Gorman.

I remember one class when Mrs. Gorman's husband visited and did a reading from Julius Ceasar. You could hear a pin drop in that class, that day.

As much as I remember that reading, even more vivid is the class reaction. Mrs. Gorman's class was the last period of the day and when that bell rang everyone was out the door before the sound of the bell died out.

Not that day, everyone sat transfixed as Mr. Gorman finished his reading.

Just a memory I thought I'd share."

How's that for a nice note day?