Time to Say Thank You

[scubasam]

MARIE M thank you for having the idea of the thank you cards, for including everyone who wanted to be included and for being organized enough to see it through to the end without causing any ill feelings among anyone.

Thank you also for agreeing to take the photo books under your wing and include them in your project. It was an absolute pleasure working with you and I hope we get to collaborate on future projects.

[MarieM]

Thank you all so much for your kind words of gratitude for the card idea. I appreciate your support along the way and am so pleased that so many of you signed the cards. And again, the beauty of the cards was solely the result of Grace's (Misty Marie) amazing efforts and her attention to every single detail.

Thanks to Avi and Sam and the whole crew appreciation project, the cards for Leonard and the band were paired with beautiful photobooks with pictures of all the band in action, specially made UHTC tribute bags, lovely UHTC plaques indicating the fans' gratitude, an individualized letter of thanks and Maarten's special name tags made especially for the crew and band. All this provided an amazing and simple expression of love from the fans to the band members. The band members received their bag of gifts prior to the first concert in Vegas at the same time as the crew.

Leonard also received these gifts along with his huge, almost 1-inch thick card with all of your messages. I asked Robert Kory twice how to handle the presentation to Leonard. Both times Robert told me it was best to mail it directly to his office so Leonard could look at it when he comes into Robert's office. I hesitated. I wanted that photo of Leonard opening the gifts to share with all of you. However, I followed Robert's advice for two reasons. First, it was absolutely crazy in Vegas. Leonard was under a lot of stress and demands and I didn't want to add to it. A gift has to be given without strings, even without the string of that photo op. Secondly, even if there had been a moment to give Leonard the gift bag, he would have had exactly that, a moment, to flip through your messages to him. Then your gift would have been put on the truck for shipment back to LA and who knows how long before Leonard would have access to it again. All your messages deserve to be read and I felt that was more likely if Leonard could do it in a leisurely fashion during the time he puts aside to read the mail that Robert collects for him at Robert's office. So I Fed Ex'd the gift bag to Robert's office and it arrived this past Wednesday.

While everyone was signing the card over the last few weeks, I had little opportunity to read your messages. But I did read some. Then I started imagining a couple of scenarios. The tour is over for now. Leonard will be hard at work in the studio trying to find those great songs and not knowing where they come from. In six or nine months, our applause will have faded in his mind. But your messages won't fade. How wonderful if he could open the card and read again and again how much the tour and his music has meant to us. How wonderful if it helps to bolster him as he plans another tour, G-d willing. I also thought about Leonard's grandchildren. When they are our age, will they understand the impact of their grandfather's work? You, my friends, just told them. Thank you.

[B4real]

While everyone was signing the card over the last few weeks, I had little opportunity to read your messages. But I did read some. Then I started imagining a couple of scenarios. The tour is over for now. Leonard will be hard at work in the studio trying to find those great songs and not knowing where they come from. In six or nine months, our applause will have faded in his mind. But your messages won't fade. How wonderful if he could open the card and read again and again how much the tour and his music has meant to us. How wonderful if it helps to bolster him as he plans another tour, G-d willing. I also thought about Leonard's grandchildren. When they are our age, will they understand the impact of their grandfather's work? You, my friends, just told them. Thank you.

Marie,

How wonderfully, eloquently stated by you. Once again, many thanks to yourself and Grace for my small part in this venture. You know, history is made every single day. We are not conciously aware of this; we just go about living our daily lives. How beautitful to imagine Leonard's grandchildren reading this in the future. Some things are so worthwhile to accomplish and this absolutely, has been one of them.

The thanks are returned back to you for the opportunity of being a small part of history - Leonard's history.

[Misty Marie]

Thank you all so much for your kind words of gratitude for the card idea. I appreciate your support along the way and am so pleased that so many of you signed the cards. And again, the beauty of the cards was solely the result of Grace's (Misty Marie) amazing efforts and her attention to every single detail.

Marie, I haven't said thanks to you officially here on the forum for the many kind words you've said to me and about my contribution to this very worthwhile project. I want to say I appreciate so much the opportunity to have worked with you over the past month or so. Yes, we did have challenges, didn't we?! But the end result was as we both envisioned from the beginning: you started it ... Leonard's many fans continued and participated in it ... and I (literally) tied it up with ribbon, packaged it all up, and sent it on its way. Perhaps in the days to come we'll hear from one or more of those who received these expressions of thanks. But even if we don't, it's difficult to beat gifts that purely and simply come straight from the heart, as these did.

I thank you beyond words for the days and nights we spent working ... enjoying ... appreciating ...and agonizing together about what to do next. In the end, every minute, hour and day we spent on this project was worth it. Thank you so much for the idea that brought us together and for your trust and confidence in my work that gave us so much to do while we waited for December 10th and 11th ... and another miracle to come.

Grace

[lizzytysh]

Leonard will be hard at work in the studio trying to find those great songs and not knowing where they come from. In six or nine months, our applause will have faded in his mind. But your messages won't fade. How wonderful if he could open the card and read again and again how much the tour and his music has meant to us. How wonderful if it helps to bolster him as he plans another tour, G-d willing. I also thought about Leonard's grandchildren. When they are our age, will they understand the impact of their grandfather's work? You, my friends, just told them. Thank you.

These comments are so true, Marie. All of them... and I'm especially drawn to the one about Leonard's grandchildren.

Having been in contact daily and nightly with Grace during the preparation time for Leonard's book, I'm especially aware of how many countless hours of labor and deep concern for this project Grace gave, in the interest of Leonard's and the band's receiving flawless and perfect-to-the-detail [details most would never even have thought of] cardbooks. Her commitment to bring it to fruition in as perfect a way as possible was deep and real.

My initial reaction to this idea was that it would be so/too similar to the annual birthday greetings we give to Leonard here on his birthday and other occasions. When I said this to you [Marie], you reminded me of the extreme care that Leonard gives to signing people's items, even to the extent of writing to thank them for items given him over the years. When I considered it from that perspective, I could only agree and pray for many many signatures and comments from everyone everywhere. After our exchanges, I came out full force on the Forum, in favour and encouragement of your initiative, citing some of the very things you had said, in my support of your idea. I couldn't have been happier to have been wrong on my initial impression. The project turned out to be even far more than I ever dreamed and Grace's creation and embellishments of it into the incredibly beautiful, significant, and meaningful cardbook that Leonard and his band have now received were no small part of that... and 700 comments and signatures from all over the world and people of all ages and generations will last Leonard a lifetime and his children and grandchildren and great grandchildren and their children... many years of deep and heartfelt thanks from so many for all that Leonard has done for us. The result of this heartfelt project will remain stellar.

A deep thanks to you for your heartfelt and beautiful idea and to Grace for its exquisite and heartfelt implementation.


~ Lizzy

[Misty Marie]

Having been in contact daily and nightly with Grace during the preparation time for Leonard's book, I'm especially aware of how many countless hours of labor and deep concern for this project Grace gave, in the interest of Leonard's and the band's receiving flawless and perfect-to-the-detail [details most would never even have thought of] cardbooks. Her commitment to bring it to fruition in as perfect a way as possible was deep and real.

~ Lizzy

Thanks, Lizzy. You're exactly right ... lots of late nights and long days while I got the cards done and you kept me from climbing the walls and leaving footprints on the ceiling. Love you to death for riding the roller coaster with me. These things are never quite as easy as they might seem (in this case, dealing with Groupcard, Inc. played a significant part in causing the problems). The end, however, certainly did justify the means.

Also, thanks, too, for your trust in me when you alerted me to Marie's request for help in the first place and suggested I contact her. I was so happy to do that, but was so busy with other things that I never would have seen her request, and would have missed out altogether on the opportunity to participate in her beautiful project. Things usually work out exactly the way they're supposed to.

- mm

[lizzytysh]

These things are never quite as easy as they might seem . . . The end, however, certainly did justify the means.

Yes, indeed!

You're welcome, of course... everyone benefited by my faith in you. My pleasure.


Love,
Lizzy
xoxox

[lizzytysh]

WoW. I just noticed your signature quote from The Independent.
So true.


~ Lizzy

[donalagata]

*

[LEONKA]

I apologize that I write so late. My focus, something to write, would not stand for anything.

MarieM

I want to first thank you for the beautiful album with cards processed that without your care and patience it would not. There is no word that would prove to express gratitude for the painstaking work. It´s beautiful. Many thanks for your patience and sacrifice time for us all. Many thanks to Leonard and the band of course.

[susanne30072009]

Thank you for having this wonderful idea. It's perfect. I know, that the UHTC and Leonard will having a big fun with this "Books"! I am sure, there wasn't expecting such a thing! Great! Susanne + Uwe

[jeremek]

MarieM.

How can I buy the whole card (album) with entries (whishes) fan ?

(everything would be great if we could have acted Paypal on groupcard.com)

[MarieM]

This is the link to purchase a copy of Leonard's card. I haven't promoted it because I am still so pissed off at GroupCard for holding our card hostage. I really don't want to see them make any money. It did occurred to me though that the way I should have handled it was to close Leonard's card after 50 pages and just start a new one. Then it never would have gotten so long. A lesson learned for us in case we do this again.

http://www.groupcard.com/print.php?card=hHCoBXDzTrP

Marie

[jeremek]

This is the link to purchase a copy of Leonard's card. I haven't promoted it because I am still so pissed off at GroupCard for holding our card hostage. I really don't want to see them make any money. It did occurred to me though that the way I should have handled it was to close Leonard's card after 50 pages and just start a new one. Then it never would have gotten so long. A lesson learned for us in case we do this again.

http://www.groupcard.com/print.php?card=hHCoBXDzTrP

Marie

HI !
I would prefer to transfer money to you to the new project. It would be far more better than to let people earn from GROUPCARD.
I thank for the link, Marie. All the best for you
Beata

[edlosi]

Thank you so much, Marie and Grace, for the great work you have done.
The 'Thank You Cards' look marvellous!

BTW I downloaded all the GroupCards as PDF files.

Isa