Hopelessly Devoted

It seemed a little ridiculous to be writing to a singer at the age of 21. Yet after going to five of his concerts in one year, and listening to his CD daily, I caved and wrote another fan letter. The subject matter was a little more serious. It delved into how the lyrics of his songs had changed my life and how extremely grateful I was for that. It was short, about a page, and only took about 20 minutes to write. Before I could talk myself out of it , I mailed the letter. It's been about a year, and you guessed it, I haven't gotten a response from Pat.

Strangely enough, I wasn't that sad that none of my crushes wrote back. Back then I just kept trying. I never lost faith that one day one of them would answer. Of course, in hindsight, it does seem odd that these young stars didn't have someone on staff to deal with letters like mine. I wonder if things have changed since I was a kid. Is someone writing back to all those young girls who are pouring their hearts out to stars like Zac Efron and the Jonas Brothers?

It turns out that just collecting the mail for a hugely popular group like the Jonas Brothers is a Herculean task. A spokesperson for the band's label, Hollywood Records, says they get upward of 5,000 pieces of mail each week, including letters and elaborate arts-and-craft projects. Most of it is shipped to wherever the band is touring, but the label would not divulge how much the boys read and whether they respond.

That might mean there are still lots of girls waiting in vain by their mailboxes. I'd like to tell them that in the long run, getting a response may not be as important as writing in the first place. At least it wasn't for me. I think that if any of my crushes had sent some kind of perfunctory pre-printed note, I might have stopped dreaming up new ways to get their attention. And maybe I wouldn't have written those long chatty letters about my day, or spent all that time revising them in my journal. Looking back, I can see that composing those letters was a big part of my decision to become a writer. Sometimes I even think I should write them to thank them for ignoring me. Of course, that might start the cycle all over again.

Did you have an irrepressible crush on a teen idol? Send us your stories. We'll publish selected submissions next month. Be sure to include your name, hometown, e-mail, and phone number.

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