Life is so strange – sometimes total strangers leave a mark in your memory forever.

Like the song that floated from the window of a house in a street where you went just once for something.

Or the warm smile of an old lady after you helped her cross the road

Or a scene outside a house where you had stopped the car during a traffic jam – a father and daughter sharing a joke or a little girl with a dog .

There is something intense and captivating in that moment that your memory just captures it like a photograph. You never knew these people but they have touched some part of you.



Today Julie Tisdale, a complete stranger , whom I shall never meet, came into my life for a few moments.I shared a whiff of a special moment from her life through a thank you note that she wrote which found its way into my hands after many years.

I had picked up “Still Life with Woodpecker” at a used book store yesterday. This morning as I turned over to page 39 this card fell from the page. I should have thrown the card away and proceeded to read but somehow it had the fascination of a clue in a treasure hunt. So I tossed the book aside and read the card in stead:

A tiny elegant personalized card used for thank you notes or short private notes, the top flap announced the sender’s name in a stylish font:

Mr.& Mrs William E.Tisdale, jr.

Inside was a handwritten note:

Dear Kar-Kar,

You guys are the greatest ! What a perfect gift you chose in the T.V. In fact, it really was my favorite. The shower was so much fun; I couldn't have asked for a funner evening. Thanks for everything.

Love

Julie

P.S. Bill loves the T.V. too. So, now he can cook & I can watch Knots on the big one!



This note gave me the thrill of a cryptic clue in a treasure hunt. I tried to see what clues lay in the letter about the person who wrote it and the background of the note.

There was a shower where Karkarand company had gifted a T.V to Julie, currently Mrs Tinsdale Jr..- More likely a bridal shower .

Julie is English or American? “favorite” and “funner” are certainly American and then the reference to Knots – most certainly American!

Knots Landing, television's second longest running drama (after Gunsmoke), ran from 1979 to 1993 on CBS television. Produced by Lorimar (owned by Time/Warner) the 14 seasons focused on the lives and loves of neighbors who lived in a southern California cul-de-sac.

So Kar- Kar used the thank you note as a bookmark, which found its way into the used book store along with the book.

Kar-Kar, very thoughtful of you! Btw,how did you like the book?

Julie, I hope you still love the television as much. Which soap do you watch now that Knots is over?

Bill, how is the cooking coming along?



This is much like watching one episode of a long running soap – you don’t know what happened before and will never know what happened afterward.

This tiny card and the 4 lines told a story better than some of our 2 and half hour movies.