Let me tell you why I have such a great job.

Today was kind of a rough morning for me. It was the day I had to travel to my mom’s house in Baton Rouge to go through her possessions to see what I wanted of hers as a keepsake. That was very difficult, and I spent my morning sorting through kitchen objects, furniture, her clothes, her jewelry, odds and ends. It was a terrible reminder that she died about a month ago. Her “stuff” was there, but she wasn’t. Very sad.

So Joseph and I drive back to New Orleans to the office this afternoon during a monsoon, so we can get all of our work done pre-Jazz Fest second weekend.

I get back into the office, and Joseph tells me there’s a gentleman who wants to see me and give me a gift (?). His name is Robert McPherson; I invite him in and he hands me a huge bottle of maple syrup.

How could this not make my day? Sweetened it up, oh, so much. Robert and I talked New Orleans for quite a while before he left and I had the chance to read this note:

Dear Jan Ramsey,

My significant other Jude Travers and I are OffBeat’s biggest fans…in Revere, Massachusetts.

I’d like to thank you so much for the handwritten note that you sent me for getting Jude a subscription. Jude had come to New Orleans probably six or seven times for Jazz Fest but I had never been able to afford it till this year. Unfortunately Jude couldn’t make it. In appreciation of you taking your time to write me a thank you letter, I’d like to give you this small epicurean token of my appreciation.

What would breakfast in Louisiana be without hot sauce? On the same idea, what you breakfast be in New England be without maple syrup? Not that sugar cane, maple-flavored syrup crap, but the real thing. I hope that you enjoy it. If I was here longer I’d invite you out to lunch, but I’m only here for one more day.

Thank you for publishing OffBeat. Even though this is my first time to New Orleans, I’ve been able to keep an eye on the local music scene because of you.

Sincerely and appreciatively,

Robert McPherson

Revere, MA

Robert, this is the best thing I could have read all day: makes all the hard work and dedication so worth it to know that we’ve done our job and turned you on to New Orleans music and the Jazz Fest. Thank you!

The point is that there are people from all over the universe who love New Orleans, and New Orleans music, and I get the privilege of giving them their fix of New Orleans, not just once, but over and over again,,,and they even bring me a jug of real maple syrup as a gift!