Dear Randy,
I am so grateful not only for your brainstorm of creating our present day
ferret symposiums, but I am grateful for the guts it takes to continue on
with your work to keep them going.  Of course everyone who has attended a
ferret function is thankful for the valuable information, chance to share
ideas, and to live ferrets for three days.  But that is not what I am
most thankful for at all.
 
Before I tell you what I am so thankful for, I wanted to tell you how
much I appreciate how you carried out the last Toronto Symposium.
First, thank you for MC'ing, and for constantly giving attention to all
of us while we were there.  You did the work of twenty people (hush, I
know that you had the best of friends and helpers) , and because you
centralized things, there weren't too many "cooks" in the kitchen per
say.  The result was something very unique from other conferences because
it lived and breathed Randy Belair.  It was warm and embracing like you.
This symposium brought to me some things I never would have been able to
otherwise enjoy.  A gourmet dinner with unique food that I would never
have been exposed to.  It was just like something on the Iron Chef.  The
hotel was wonderful.  The staff was so tolerant of our ridiculous group
(lol) and of all of our animals.  The hotel itself was wonderful to stay
in.  I am not going to be able to remember and list every little thing
that I enjoyed, but I hope that you get the geist of what I am trying
to say here.  This symposium was very unique.  I loved your country by
the way.  I had no idea that Canada was so gorgeous.
 
Now I can say what I wanted to say.  Because of you (and yes, you Bill),
I have "people".  A family, that I otherwise never would have had.  I
used to feel lonely, because my regular family and friends just couldn't
understand all of me.  Just part of me.  It's hard only being "partly"
loved.  Bill, you have given your time to all of use to create our own
little "community".  And Randy you brought us together to make it "real".
Now I have people who celebrate special days with me and come see me all
of the time.  My kids have tons of "aunties" and "uncles" that really
care for them and in my eyes have lent a hand in raising them.  I know
I can be as silly as I want with ferret people.  Cry.  Get ticked.
Talk about my hobbies, share my stupid stories, and show off my boring
pictures with someone.  People who really do care.  I am accepted.  The
phenomenon of all of this, is that it goes far beyond just sharing the
joy of ferrets.  I'm not sure how much you realize that your not.  But
I'm telling you now.
 
For those of you who have never had the opportunity to go to a ferret
symposium or forum, I pray that you get the chance.  It is life altering.
Cherish the friends that you have made here on the FML.  They ARE "real".
And so much more than you know.
 
I'm not lonely ... anymore.
 
Wolfy
[Posted in FML issue 5291]