𝐒𝐢𝐠𝐧𝐞𝐝, 𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐁𝐢𝐠𝐠𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐅𝐚𝐧

23. A Heart 4 A Stranger

PRINCE

    My first eye-opening experience with a fan happened sometime after Purple Rain. There was a girl who'd always write me, and over a period of a few months, I made a habit of writing her back. The compelling aspect of her letters was the poetry she'd write me...and the pics she sent too, I guess. And all was cool until she actually showed up at my front door one afternoon, looking nothing like her pictures might I add.  

It was only then I realized the mistake I had made. At the end of a tiring day, it boiled down to law enforcement having to remove her and me filing a restraining order. After that, I was pretty much done with fan mail—until June of '88.

It was the 3rd to be exact, the first Friday of the month that would bring us summer. During an office visit to my new personal assistant, Ada, I was taken back by the basket of mail sitting in the corner of the room. Fanmail.

At times, I'd pick through them looking to be either inspired or entertained.

Prince yoo all I want. I need yoo understand that I will do anything 4 yoo. I dream of that we make love all night long! Yoo ar sexiest. I love yoo Prince.

     Maybe it was the luck of my hand because they were all like this.

Sitting on the floor, I dug through the basket looking for another laugh. I was already in a good mood. I don't remember why but I was very chatty that morning, stopping by everyone's office to "check-in." Whispers went around that I was losing it.

From the depths of the pile, I found a standard white envelope that happened to catch my eye. The sender drew a bunch of raspberries in the bottom right corner. It was odd, so intriguing enough for me to open it.

Leaning back on the wall, I read it out loud so Ada and I could be humored together. "...For the last three years I've been in foster care since my caretaker passed away." Suddenly, it felt too private to share, so quietly to myself, I drank the rest of the words.

"Ivy V." My biggest fan. That's what she signed.

The letter in general was touching. I could easily identify what she was feeling when mentioning trying to find Paisley Park (the one in our hearts). It brought me back to that time when I had no one.

More notably, she didn't ask me for anything. She actually admitted that she wasn't expecting a letter back, and after reading about her circumstances, I thought she probably didn't expect much from anyone. So I asked Ada for a pen and paper and wrote my reply, then gave her the duty of sending it off—and we all know how that turned out.

Ada already had a blank envelope I asked her to send off to my ex-girlfriend, and somehow, she mixed that with Ivy's letter. While Ada got fired, I took it upon myself to recover my personal letter from my "biggest fan." She didn't give it up so easily, which resulted in a series of letters that went back and forth over a couple of months.

Even as persistent as she was, I never actually grew frustrated with her. I knew exactly how out of place it felt hopping from house to house like that after being ripped away from your home. I was around the tender age of 13 too when I had to leave. Worrying about where you'll be sleeping later, and if the school lunch was your last meal of the day is not what a kid should be thinking about sitting in class. But that was me. And now it was her.

At first, I worried that she would become too attached to me if I kept responding. I was worried that she'd show up at my front door too, wanting something I couldn't give her. But truth be told, I may had become a little too attached to her. I was filled with a great amount of concern for this stranger.