I got a note this week from someone I haven’t seen in over 30 years — an older guy from my fraternity who graduated when I was a freshman. One of the cool guys… kind of a legend to the younger guys. The type you remember even though he probably didn’t even know your name. You knew his…

He somehow found me on Substack, started reading my stuff, and subscribed. But it was the note he sent me this week through Buy Me a Coffee that really hit me:

“Totally with you on Slow Horses — and let’s be honest, Gary Oldman is operating on a level the rest of us can only aspire to. I’ve been a die-hard Oldman fan for years…

Keep up the great work… and the Observations!”

He could have easily kept scrolling, ignored it, or deleted my email like it was one of a hundred others. Instead, he stopped. He clicked. He read it. And then he took the time to send a note to someone he hasn’t seen in over 30 years.

It says a lot about him…….that the cool 22-year-old frat guy grew into an even cooler grown man. And it says a lot about Substack and the reach and connections it can create.

Amazing what can happen when someone simply takes a minute to say, “Hey……I see you.”

Thanks a lot, Michael (Stots), for making my week. That gesture proves your “legendary” status from the old fraternity days is still fully intact.