Okay, so I got that out of the way, or maybe not. I may have a fake fan letter in me before I quit this post. But in the meantime, I have to say something again (that for strangers reading who don’t understand the magic of Richard Armitage fandom) is the massive key to the fandom’s appeal. It’s about the friends. Oh make no mistake fandom can be a rough and tumble world. A bully or two exists, and sometimes there’s some weirdness, but all of that is eclipsed by some wonderful people, who don’t want to do anything other than be a friend. Love, love, love that. It is the stuff that makes the world go ’round. And all you need is love, and then you can die happy even if you’re old and decrepit, and a lot of other things have gone to crap. If you have friends whom you love and they love you, that’s enough. It makes a person rich in ways money can never touch. Money can never touch it…money can never touch it.
During my time as a fan, I’ve had the great privilege and pleasure to become friends with some really fine people. And if there is anything that I am thankful for the most in my time yukking it up with other Armitage fans, it’s these friends. They are all unique, but they do share some things in common that I find highly satisfying. Of course they all like Richard Armitage. Duh. They all love to laugh — a lot. They appreciate good food. They all ponder much more than their frequent laughter would suggest. They care deeply about their family and friends. They all love going new places and meeting new people, so they are not afraid to talk to strangers. And that’s where I came in. They talked to me, someone whom they had never met nor even heard my voice. But we had a point of understanding in our being moved by the performances of Richard Armitage and his continued effect on us and why, why, why were we so affected?!
And we still discuss that today after years of knowing each other. I’m not sure we will ever get the answer, and I don’t know that we ever want to sum it up. It’s too much fun talking about it. In that interest, one of the friends wanted me to see Love, Love, Love. I told her I her I would try, then I wasn’t sure, and then I told her I couldn’t. I am a tightwad by nature. I don’t mean being stingy with others, but I learned at a young age how to say no. And so I said no to the Richard Armitage play. I had a business to run and cash flow to worry about and yes, some horrendous medical bills to pay off, so I could not justify taking a trip to New York to watch Richard Armitage in a play — no matter how lovely the thought.
But one day back in the summer, Armitage Besotted called me up and asked again, “Do you think you will come to New York for the play?” My answer was the same, and then she asked me what would keep me from it. Most of it had to do with not being frivolous with money, and she said, “Well, don’t even think about it. It’s on me.” I immediately said, “No, no, I can’t accept that. I appreciate it, but I can’t accept that.” I was overwhelmed by this. Seriously. It completely took me aback. I was not expecting anything like this, and I didn’t feel I could accept. Then I remembered something my father said, “When a person is moved to give you something out of the kindness of their heart, and you know it’s not manipulated, accept it. To not accept it is an affront. It’s saying, ‘You’re not good enough to give me something.'” All of that ran through my head as she was saying this to me, and I was struggling with it because it was such a huge gesture. In fact, I’m still reeling from it and feel a great need to express how I feel about it all:
AB,
This fan letter is for you.
My friend, you will never know how much what you did moved me. I’m just sorry it’s taken me three weeks to talk about it publicly. I do want you to know that even if you hadn’t done it, I consider you a great friend. Whatever all this Richard Armitage stuff is about, I’m glad we know each other most of all.
And whether you realize it or not, God had a hand in it. I was able to facilitate the resolution of an issue that I didn’t even know existed until I was coming to New York. It resolved rather satisfactorily and in a way that I could never have anticipated it happening. God’s hand was all over it. So you and your big heart were a divine instrument. We can talk more about this later.
For now just know that it was a unique experience to be that up close and personal with Richard Armitage’s chest. And how could I not when I was this close to the stage?!
And thank you for making it possible for me to meet some other fans whom I’ve conversed with online on several occasions and some on many occasions. In particular, thank you for the opportunity to meet Abby aka AwkwardCeleb. We’ve known each other online for a long time but had never actually met until we had dinner before the play. Thank you, thank you! Abby is a sweetheart just like you, and as so many others were who were at our table. I enjoyed you all and wish I could have spent much more time with you!
Love,
Your friend and fellow Armitage admirer
For those looking at that photo, just know I was on the front row (pretty much center) and that the stage was about three feet from my seat, so that the edge of it was eye level, and if I had reached out my foot, I could have touched it easily. In fact, I think I did that just for grins.
I will give my impressions of the play in another post. I look forward to that! But this post is the most important to me.
RAFrenzy 