Randy Cassingham's Blog

I got some great gifts from my readers this year. Lee in Florida sent one -- a letter:

There is no particular story that stands out in my mind, but each week I look forward to reading your research. They each make you think and what a gift that is when in today's society every little thing is done for you. The gift of thought is truly a treasure. What a gift.

Thanks, Lee, for your gift -- your kind words. Making my living writing True is great, but the "psychic pay" I get from reader letters is sometimes even better.

Terry, aboard the USS Enterprise in the Persian Gulf, writes:

I am one of the many people in the armed forces that is overseas this holiday season, and I just want to say thanks for the fun & cheer that True often brings to an otherwise bleak situation. Incredibly this is the first Christmas that I have had to spend so far away from friends & family in almost 18 years in the Navy. I really consider myself fortunate that I am able to receive your articles in e-mail every week. I know that a lot of my fellow servicemen & -women are not nearly so lucky as to have e-mail available to them where they are serving their country away from home. Thank you for bringing a smile at a time when they're pretty hard to come by.

Maybe someday we'll really have Peace on Earth. In the meantime, I'm glad people like Terry are out there. (Terry did say it was OK for me to say where his ship was.)

By the way, I don't count the .mil top-level domain as a "country" in my country list, but I am proud that True goes to many hundreds of servicemen and -women deployed all over the world. At last count there are 538 subscribers in the .mil domain, plus countless others who use "private" (.com and other) domains for their mail.

In a similar vein, I had told readers that if they wanted to give the gift of Premium upgrades, I could send out gift notices on Christmas Day if they asked for that. Mark in Florida was one of many who took me up on the offer, sending an upgrade to "a friend of mine from high school who is aspiring to be a Marine and is a freshman 'rat' at Virginia Military Institute. The rat rules are very harsh, as they are at most military schools, so I was wondering earlier, What gift I could possibly purchase for a person who is not allowed to own anything? Then I got my weekly issue, read your note on gift orders, and it hit me. He can receive e-mail (these days it's a necessity even for the most misery-inflicted cadets), and the weekly laugh will certainly raise his spirits. I have incredible respect for those who voluntarily subject themselves to such an education with the intent to enter the armed services and risk their necks for the rest of us, and it's the least I can do. My sincere appreciation for your efforts to personally review and accommodate each order; it's becoming a lost art these days, and that's a shame."

I'm also happy to pass along gift messages the sender wants conveyed. The absolute sweetest was one sent by Cynthia in Colorado: "Daddy, the fun and quirky have always been something we've shared. Thanks for giving me an appreciation of all the good and precious things of life. (A good laugh in this case.) Merry Christmas!! Now I know you'll have a good New Year! Love Always, Cyndy"

What Cyndy didn't expect was that I'd recognize the e-mail address she was sending her gift to! Her dad, Terry, who is also in Colorado, is a good friend of mine. You're a very lucky man indeed, Terry. I hope I get to meet Cyndy someday.