Dear Marie,

I wanted to let you know that tonight you brought me some happiness and even a slight laugh or two as I watched you on QVC.
I started purchasing some of your dolls back in 2006. As a man, it probably seemed a bit odd that I would be interested in something such as dolls, but I just saw them to be beautiful collector items. My wife, Michele, encouraged me to go ahead and 'take the plunge' and buy my first doll which I did late that year. She thought it was great that there was this side to me...that is, that a guy could appreciate something as beautiful as one of your dolls which would normally perhaps not appeal to man or be considered too 'feminine' for a man to like. With that first doll purchase, my wife and I would try to catch your different appearances on QVC and over the course of the last year and a half I purchased about 6 of your dolls. My wife surprised me for my birthday in 2007 and bought me the 'Cream Puff' doll which I had considered buying, but had been debating between getting it or one of the other dolls I'd seen you talk about on one of your QVC appearances. This doll turned out to be one of the most beautiful dolls in my collection.

Unfortunately my wife was diagnosed with recurrent cancer in 11/06 and since that time had been battling this horrible disease with much grace and dignity even though as time went on the complications became worse and the outlook more bleak. We would often sit and watch you on QVC because we both enjoyed hearing you talk about your faith and basic philosophy about life. This past June 1 I lost my beautiful wife of just two years. She was just 50 yrs old. So tonight as I sat in our family room with tears in my eyes watching you, I thought of her and her beautiful smile and laughter and know she would want me to stay positive and not grieve over her passing as much as I have so far. So I just wanted to thank you for bringing some happiness and perhaps even a little joy to me this evening as I continue to fondly and lovingly remember my beautiful wife. Thank you for just being you and for touching people's lives as you've touched ours with your humor, sincerity and love of life.

God Bless
Steve F.