Posted by Jack Torrance at lake1-154.lakeheadu.ca on April 16, 2001 at 19:55:46:
In Reply to: An Open Letter To Kevin Smith posted by Kevin Rhodes on April 13, 2001 at 20:04:13:
: This isn't easy for me to do. Why should you care what I have to say? I guess you could say its like going to therapy without the outrageous billing. I've been a long time fan of your work (movies, comics, interviews, blah, blah, blah). I know you are a busy man, but I just wanted to let you know that your movies (one in particular) have played a pivotal role in my life. Anyway, in 1997 I was just about at the end of my rope so to speak. I had dropped out of college, moved back home, started working at a movie theater as a projectionist, and pretty much decided that my life was over. I was apathetic and depressed. I was lonely even though I had friends. . .I had recently gotten out of a 5 year relationship. That summer the movie theater hired several college students to work there while they were out of school, and that's where I met the woman who would change my life. Heather was a student at the University of Tennessee in Biomedical Engineering. She got the job because her little sister worked at the theater also. Her sister, Alison, and my older brother, Joe, had been spending time together, therfore Heather and I often ended up hanging out together. We talked but not really. . .just chit chat at first. We soon started talking more and more. . .spending time together during work. One night after work a bunch of us were loitering in front of the theater. . .not much to do in Columbia, TN. We were talking about the crummy movies our employers insisted on showing and how there were so many good movies that never made it to our neck of the woods. I mentioned Chasing Amy and how much I wanted to see it. Heather spoke up saying that she had seen it in Knoxville (Univ. of Tenn.), and that it was great. I was jealous. A couple of days passed, both of us showing interest in one another but never making that first move. One night while working and hanging out Heather approached me and said that she had found a small theater about 20 minutes away that was showing Chasing Amy, and if I had nothing else to do would I want to go with her on Saturday to see it. My heart leapt. A woman asking me out, and to go see Chasing Amy no less. Well, long story short we had a great time, spent the entire night talking and getting to know each other, and it soon became an exclusive relationship. I was love struck. We spent every day together. . .at work, after work. It was real. I had never felt love like that before. As different as we were. . .we were just alike. Only she had goals and ambition. I was ashamed of myself for falling so far. She inspired me. She had to go back to school in the fall and it was decided that the realtionship would continue (I would drive three hours to see her every Thursday and come back on Sunday). Within three months we were engaged. . .within a little over a year of that we were married. When we were coming up with the guest list for the wedding Heather had joked that we should send you an invitation since you ( or one of your movies at least) were one of the reasons we went out in the first place. It was just a joke but it was true. We were married on January 2, 1999. I was a changed man. I had a reason to live, to breathe, to better myself. Heather was everything I ever wanted. She graduated. . .we moved to Milwaukee, WI where she entered the doctorate program for biomedical engineering (hands down the the most brilliant person I had ever come in contact with. . .my friend called Heather "scary smart"). She soon tired of school and just wanted to take her dgree and get a job. . .we moved back to Tennessee where she started looking for jobs in the south so we could be close to friends and family. In August of 2000 she found the job she wanted as biomedical patent examiner at the US Patent Office. We were moving ourselves up to Washington D.C.. . .she drove the car behind the moving van which I drove. We had found an apartment in Manassass, VA. The morning of September 14th we were driving towards Manassass. We were 15 minutes away from moving in and starting a new chapter in our lives. I heard something loud and looked in my rearview mirror to see a tractor traliler slam into my wife's vehicle. I threw the moving van into park and raced back to where the accident was. The car was wedged underneath the back tires of the truck. Heather was gone. I knew it before anyone told me. I could feel it. One minute I was thinking to myself how wonderful everything was going to be. . .the next I was on my knees in the gravel begging God to not take my wife from me. It was unbelievable horror. I can stll see everything just as it happened in my head. I wake up to it, I go to sleep to it, I live with it. It has now been 7 months since the accident. I miss Heather more and more everyday. She is still my wife, because I know that we'll be together again. I won't quote it, but Natalie Merchant's song "Beloved Wife" says it best. I'll never be the same. I don't want to be depressing. . .I don't want anything from you. . .I just wanted let you know that your movie helped to introduce me to the woman I will spend the rest of my life loving. I just wanted you to hear my "How We Met" story that involves one of your movies (I still have the ticket stubs fromn that night). I have wonderful memories that will have to tide me over until I'm by her side again. I just wanted to say thank you and I'm sorry I never sent you the wedding invitation. . .