Over the nearly eleven years that I’ve been running Slope, I have received thousands of emails from people around the world. These emails have, on the whole, only deepened my belief that people are fundamentally good, and they have exhibited the kinds of traits – – – honesty, generosity of spirit, and camaraderie – – that make it a pleasure to be a part of this community.
Occasionally I get an email which is so special that I want to share it with other Slopers, and of course I always ask permission of the sender if I may do so. They always say yes, and this is no exception. Here, then, is an email I received this morning. He said it would be all right to mention his screen name, but out of an abundance of respect for privacy, I’ll refrain from doing so:
I wanted to send you a quick note on how much I value your website.
I am a certified real estate appraiser in a small town in Indiana. Let’s just say the local level of conversation is one notch above the shoppers of our Wal Mart. I have read your website daily for years and am hopelessly addicted. Since my line of work and Wall Street are similar in attempting to identifying comps, patterns, trends etc. I use the language I learn from your website and dazzle the locals with the common vernacular of the Slope.
I wanted to mention that behind the scenes some of the people that post on your site are just flat out, a generous and giving people. I have contacted 007 Dad about natural remedies, corresponding with Market Sniper over the past coupla years, and now subscribe to Bob Kudla. I have a subscription to the Slope, because I wanted to pay you back for everything you have done for me.
One of the most important lesson I have learned is to remove emotion and coldly plan. This lesson I have learned from your site will be in play this week.
My Dad passed away on Wednesday, his services are Sunday and the funeral is Monday. The problem is that I will marry off my daughter next Saturday to a … Marine Sniper no less. My daughter is our only child. I tell the locals she is my entire net worth. I probably shouldn’t mention that I am a cancer survivor with a bad heart. I had the third pacemaker/defibrillator installed last year and am now wearing a heart monitor as I type this. I joke that I have eight years to live. That’s because that’s how long my battery is good for!
So now I am planning on just the day in front of me and tomorrow? Well, that gets planned tomorrow.
This is not an attempt to play on your emotions. It is to be a simple Thank You for your website.
We all have bumps in the road. It’s my turn in the barrel and that’s OK.
It’s just that I try to learn to become better as I go along. That is very limited in Smallburg, IN
So I have absorbed as much as I can from your site to improve myself.
I just wanted to say you are making a difference in this small part of the world.
Thank You for that.
Isn’t that wonderful? What a great bunch of folks we have here. Thank you, all.
