When I was 11 I wrote a fan letter to Sarah Michelle
Gellar. To my surprise, I got a response. At the time I was obsessed with her
show Buffy the Vampire Slayer and
wanted to let her know how much I loved it. Looking back, writing a letter with
anticipation of getting a response was naïve but I believed something would
happen if I did, so I went for it. (Imagine what would happen for you if you
possessed that kind of faith as an adult.) Even more surprising was the fact
that my parents let me watch the show.
I was raised Christian and remember a church member at the time referring to
the show as “demonic”, but if my parents didn’t have a problem with me watching
it, I was unbothered. At the time, I thought there was no one cooler than a
butt kicking teenager who fought vampires, went to high school, and had close
friends. Buffy Summers was awesome. I
can’t remember exactly what I wrote in the letter, but I do remember how
excited I was to see a letter from California waiting for me when I got home
from school. With excitement, I ripped open the sealed envelope and there was
an autographed photo of Sarah Michelle Gellar that read, Best Wishes xoxo. I thought I was the coolest kid ever. I took the
autographed photo to school, showed all my friends and teachers, and was told
that it probably wasn’t really hers, but
as an eager 5th grader, it was
real to me. As a kid, I can’t think of a cooler fan moment than getting the
kind of response I did. Although I no longer have the photo, it’s a fond fan
girl memory I’ll never forget.
About a year ago, I had a dream my dad wanted to talk to our family about something serious. I wasn’t sure what he wanted to discuss, but I knew it was something I needed to prepare myself for. Around the time after I had this dream, I remember stopping by my parents place and sensing something was going on that they weren’t telling me. I tried to dismiss what I’d been feeling, but I couldn’t shake it. Something serious was happening. As I returned to my home after visiting them one day, I was in my kitchen washing dishes when a heaviness hit my heart like nothing I’d ever felt before. Something’s wrong with dad. That’s what that dream was about. God, what’s going on? As I continued washing dishes, I started crying and praying. Then in mid-spring, my dad held an unexpected family meeting that would change all our lives forever. He hesitated at first, and as his voice started cracking and he started crying, he said, “Well, I wanted to talk to ya’ll to tell you that I have kidney disea...