Thanks to readers,
Robyn had an uplifting ’07

Robyn’s Hood
By Robyn McCloskey

You probably are not aware that this week marks the one-year anniversary of my writing Robyn’s ’Hood. It was one short year ago that you began allowing me into your home to write about whatever is on my heart and in my head.
You’ve spent a year listening to me lament about my oldest chick flying the coop for Penn State, my middle chick driving out of the coop with her brand-new driver’s license, and my youngest chick’s search for the perfect Halloween costume. You’ve endured stories about my husband’s irrational fear of sharks, my mother’s undying devotion to Elvis and my father-in-law’s 15 minutes of fame as an Impala recording artist in the 1950s.
You’ve also learned a few things about me along the way, like how I not only love going to the movies but have managed to work on a few too. Which in a way feels like double-dipping, since movie sets are a wealth of material for a newspaper columnist.
Except, of course, when you work with genius directors like M. Night Shyamalan and Peter Jackson and are forced to sign confidentiality agreements. But I promise, when The Happening and The Lovely Bones are released, I shall spill my secrets.
Quite a few of you have managed to touch my heart as I hope I have managed on occasion to touch yours. Shortly after I had written about my parents’ love for each other, an elderly gentleman contacted me. He said that he and his wife were so moved by the story that he wanted to meet me and present me with a gift. I reluctantly agreed to meet with him. I called my husband and told him to call the police if I wasn’t back in an hour. But I needn’t had feared.
This lovely man gave me a book about Elvis as well as a book about the Kennedys (as I had mentioned in the column my love for all things Camelot-esque). He also gave me a very obscure Marilyn Monroe DVD, since I’d also noted in the column how my dad was first attracted to my mom because of her resemblance to the blonde bombshell.
After our meeting, this sweet man accused me of having made his day, but I’d have to say it was the other way around.
Another reader, Shelly Fredman, who hails from Philly but has since moved out to California, reads the column online. It seems her mom still lives here and is an avid reader of the Northeast Times and recommended my column to her. Turns out Shelly and I have a similar sense of humor. Shelly’s written a book titled No Such Thing as a Good Blind Date and sent it to me. The title alone made me want to read it, never mind the fact that I had an autographed copy for free. Thanks Shell, for the book and for your kind words.
I am overwhelmed on a weekly basis by the encouraging and considerate e-mails sent to me. The moms who wrote to me after I’d complained about not being able to find my daughter an authentic Hannah Montana wig right before Halloween to offer practical advice of exactly where to get one and how much it cost. The lovely notes from long-lost relatives heard from after I mentioned the 50th wedding anniversary of my in-laws. The e-mails received from the Teamsters after I wrote a column on the wonderful care they take of me anytime I am on a movie set. And if I could be on the good side of anyone . . . it would be the Teamsters!
But have no fear, this is still Philadelphia, my friends, and while the majority of responses are much too kind, I have received my share of "hey-lady-you-know-what-you-can-do-wit’-your-lousy-column" e-mails as well.
Whenever people ask me if I receive reader responses, I always give them my pat answer: "Yes, most of them are very kind, the rest are framed and hanging on my wall."
For now I wish to say a great big thank-you and happy anniversary to the Northeast Times (which, by the way, did not invite me to their Christmas party, but that’s a column for another day); to my editor, encourager, friend and corrector, John Scanlon, for taking a chance on this "fraud;" and most especially, to you, the great people of Northeast Philly, the best hometown a girl could ever ask for. ••
Robyn McCloskey’s column appears each week in the Northeast Times. She can be reached at crmccloskey@verizon.net