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| In May of 1985 my husband, Joe,
and I celebrated our 25th anniversary. when he asked what
I might like as an anniversary present, I, having been a
Dean Martin fan for many years, immediately said I would
like to see Dean in person. We made arrangements to fly
to Las Vegas to see his show in june. He had a terrific
show, and at the very end he gave his red silk
handkerchief to a woman sitting in front of the stage.
After we returned home, I wrote Dean the first fan letter
I had ever written, telling him about our seeing his show
for our 25th anniversary. I told him I had been a fan of
his for many years and how much laughter and
entertainment he had given me through those years. I said
I had always admired him for the tolerance and patience
he showed towards other people. I mentioned I had noticed
him giving his red handkerchief to a woman in the
audience and that having one of his red handkerchiefs, as
a remembrance of our seeing him, would be very special to
me. I told him how much we had enjoyed his show and
thanked him for all the years of terrific entertainment.
My closing sentence was, "when we celebrate our
golden anniversary, I hope you will still be
"Bummin' Around" at the MGM".
"Bummin' Around" was one of the songs Dean sang
during the show. I mailed the letter, wondering if I had
the correct address or if he would ever see it. Three
weeks later, I was thoroughly surprised and elated to
recieve a note from Dean along with the much cherished
red handkerchief. Dean's note was dated July 18, 1985 and
said, in Dean's handwriting, "To Mary Sowa: Here's
looking to that "golden anniversary". Dean
Martin." That note and red handkerchief will always be, not only a special remembrance of our 25th anniversary, but also a special remembrance of Dean, the best entertainer and a wonderfully warm, compassionate and genuinely nice person. --Mary Sowa |
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