Something that Gordie Howe “did” after he died made more of an impact on me than anything from his illustrious hockey career. Yes, you read that right.
The story requires a little context.
My grandson Gareth, who was born at La Verendrye Hospital, was a passionate young hockey player. His grandparents asked him one day who his favourite players were and he replied: Wayne Gretzky, Mario Lemieux and Gordie Howe. Considering they had all retired before Gareth was born, and that the eldest of the trio (Howe) was then 71, we were astounded.
Because my grandson was “9” at the time, I decided to write Howe a letter with a grandfatherly request: Would he be willing to send Gareth a picture and, because he was just an Atom player, a word of encouragement?
That was in 2009. Nobody knew about the letter but me (and perhaps Gordie), and I forgot about it. End of story.
Howe died seven years later, in June 2016. Several months after his death, Gareth received an autographed picture of Gordie Howe, out of the blue. With it was a copy of my letter.
Having an item autographed by Mr. Hockey is not that big a deal, because in his 88 years he signed anything and everything his adoring fans asked him to sign. There are more than 1,000 of his autographed items for sale on eBay these days. They start at $2.50.
He was a man I’d met — initially when he was touring the country promoting Eaton’s products and later in dressing rooms after games as his NHL career was winding down — but I never knew him. However, when I was a kid, yes, about nine, I once sent a note to Gordie Howe. Sometime later (not seven years!), an autographed postcard arrived in the mail.
A couple of things about Howe never changed. One, his authentic signature…nobody signed on his behalf. It’s the same on the cards Gareth and I received, five decades apart. Two, a philosophy he clearly instilled in his family (three sons, one daughter): how important it was to answer every piece of fan mail, even seven years after a request, even several months after he died.
How many athletes do you think would have sent an autographed photo to members of the same family, two generations apart?
And one of them, posthumously?
