{dear jian letters III}

{Parts I & II}

On Saturday, I received a surprise email from my sister-in-law, Deb {who, you'll remember, I listed as a reference in my first letter to Jian Ghomeshi last week, along with her phone number so that he could call her and confirm my identity and sanity. This, admittedly, was not as much for his safety and reassurance as it was for my sister-in-law, who would just love a phone call from Jian Ghomeshi. But the point is not that.}

This email was not for me. It was a forward of an email that she had already sent to Jian, and read as follows:  

Dear Jian - 

You may remember reading a letter yesterday from Suzy, a big fan of yours in Regina. Also a chauffer, I believe... (not that she's ever picked me up from the airport, come to think of it. You must be special). 

I'm assuming the next thing on your to-do list today was to call her references - of which I am noted as one. To save you the long-distance cost (which is probably why you hesitated to call), I thought I'd just write you an email on my own initiative. 

I'm sure you will never see the inside of Suzy's black "limousine." 

And she perhaps will not even want you to see the outside. 

But. 

I really hope you get to meet her. 

Suzy has something in common with you. 

You are both 2 of my favorite informants about all things culture. 

(Which, I suppose, as the common thread between you, makes me very important myself). 

But back to Suzy. 

I'm not sure how long you're planning to be in Regina. (They only have one Starbucks, which I'm not sure if you care about, or if that will influence the length of your stay). I spent the first 18 years of my life there. And a couple of weeks a year since then. 

Right, back to Suzy. 

I'm not sure how long you're planning to be in Regina. But if you get a couple of free minutes, it'll be worth it to chat with her if the culture of those frozen winters is something that pops up on your radar from time to time.

Suzy has tapped into the little things that make Regina a sweet place to be. Which, as you will know, can be any place when you have that mindset. 

So. 

I hope that even if it's 2 minutes at a book-signing, you get a chance to say hi. 

She will be a little bit shy. 

She will be one of the sweetest people you'll meet. 

She will have a quietly reflective perspective on the encounter. 

And you can bet that she will blog about it. 

I suppose my biggest vouch for Suzy's character is that I could not think of a better person to marry my little brother. 

Which, really, is all I probably needed to say. 

I really appreciate your show. You are a great example of someone who asks good questions and listens thoughtfully to the answers - a lost art in our world in many ways.

Take care... and take your thickest toque to Regina (maybe you should have kept the hair ;)),

Deb


You can imagine how grinny I got after reading that. Even if Jian never replies to her or even gets to read it {as he is probably busy reading letters from people like Dustin Hoffman and David Bowie and by now Ashley has absolutely marked anything containing the name "Suzy" as spam} it sure made my day. She is an excellent reference and writer, and an even better sister. Schmaltzy but true. 

And I gotta say, you guys, thanks for all the sweet emails and comments about this silly little story. Thank you for cheering for me and saying that if you ever come to town you will let me give you a ride from the airport. {I'll do it! My car is black, like a limousine!} 

I think  my subconscious intention at the beginning of this whole thing was basically, as embarrassing as it is to admit, to make Jian Ghomeshi acknowledge my existence. That's all. I mean, I figure that's a people thing. We think someone's cool, we admire them, we want them to like us back. Just, most people keep it to themselves.  

How dignified of them.

Anyway. I knew in the back of my little Norwegian heart, because I'm not five anymore, that I'd most likely get a slightly condescending 'rejection' letter from some PR person in Toronto in reply to my letter. That Jian Ghomeshi is busy and important and doesn't have time to sit down for coffee with or even write a quick note to every person who has listened to Q since 2007. 

Totally fair. 

But I've also always been one of those people who try as hard as I can to ignore the most likelies and cling to the magical "what ifs". Like, "what if he says yes to my letter and Barclay and I drive him from the airport to my favourite used book shop and we start talking about deep and interesting things and then he decides that I am a worthwhile human being and offers to let me help cohost on the day that he interviews Martin Starr {the aforementioned Bill} on Q?"  

It could happen. Anything could happen. Because life is sweet like that.    

{UPDATE: PART 4}