Hello everyone from a relatively new fan

[manofsteel1979]

Hi everyone! My name is David and I am proud to join your ranks as a fellow fan,albeit relatively new,and quite possibly one of the youngest people on this board.So,please,be gentile! As you may guess from my username,I'm a huge Superman fan/collector.As I understand from what i've read about Karen,she was a huge collector/fan of Disney memorabilia,so I feel a kind of kinship of "geekdom"( for lack of a better term) with Karen.After all,what is more American than Mickey Mouse and Superman? (or CARPENTERS,for that matter) Anyhow,as I said earlier,my fandom of Karen and Richard's music is relatively new,only really developing in my early 20's(I'm 30 going on 31).As a kid growing up I knew of the Carpenters and their music,mostly through my parents.I was only 3 when Karen left us,but I actually remember vagely that day,as my mother was really upset when she died.My parents had a few of their LP's and CHRISTMAS PORTRAIT was always on the family turntable (later CD player) around the holidays.I remember hearing their songs on oldies stations and even seeing "The Karen Carpenter Story" on CBS in 1989.However,I never gave their music much thought,as I wrongly thought it to be too sappy and mushy.That all changed around 2003.I was going through a tough time in my life.My longtime girlfriend and I broke up,I had just lost my job and my father,who was in failing health for some time,had suffered a stroke,permanantly disabling him,eventually forcing us to put him in a nursing home.I was feeling really hopeless at that time,like my life was falling apart.One night,I was driving home alone in my truck,and I was flipping around the radio dial looking for something to listen to,when I heard it.It was the opening of "Only Yesterday" .I had probably heard it a million times before,but for some reason,I heard it this time,I mean REALLY heard it.That voice reached through the speakers of my stereo and touched something deep inside me,raising my spirits as the song continued.The lyric and the way Karen delivered it,and the way Richard put the whole thing together touched me so deeply.The next day,I went to the local used Record store (which as long since closed) and bought the albums "A song for You" &"Horizon" on LP and "Singles 1969-1981" on CD,and thus my love affair with The Carpenters began.Since then,I have collected all of their studio albums on both LP and CD,Numerous compliations,all four of the post Karen albums,Karen's solo CD and just today I found and downloaded the unreleased tracks from Karen's solo album.I just recently purchased the new Karen biography "Little Girl Blue" (fantastic book, BTW),and I am always searching the web for new video clips of Karen.Frankly,I am a Carpenters addict. It's great to see that I am not alone,as there is a vast community of fans worldwide,and I am glad to officially join your ranks.This is a great site,and I'm glad to now be a member,and I hope to be talking with you all soon. Two more stories to share before I split for now.Back in 2007,I sent an email to Richard via the official Site that he runs(or ran,as It seems to be more or less inactive)telling a longer version of the story i told you guys above.About two weeks later,I received a very nice reply from Richard,expressing thanks on behalf of himself and Karen for my comments,and his pleasure that their music helped me through a tough time in my life.I never expected a reply at all,let alone a personal one from Richard himself!!! Needless to say,It ment a lot and speaks well of him as an individual that he would take the time to reply. I know he gets a lot of flack from some people,but I think overall he is a nice guy and a true gentleman. The other story is kind of freaky,and I'm almost afraid to tell it,but here it goes.Around the time I described above in 2003,probably a couple months later,I had this weird dream.I was in this Park with trees and nature all around,sitting on a bench alone,feeling sorry for myself.I hear a voice ask "may i sit here with you?" Not really looking up I nod and the person sits next to me.I say nothing to this person at first,don't really look at them.I don't seem to notice the person is a woman at first,but this distinctive voice tells me "I know,things seem hopeless now.That you don't have a friend in the world,nothing seems to be going your way.All you need to know is that you have tomorrow.Tomorrow WILL be better.You'll make it,trust me." For some reason,I believe this person and for the first time I see who the voice belongs to.It was a beautifull,dark haired woman with these marvelous brown eyes.She looked so familiar to me,she felt familiar...but I just couldn't connect it all."Have we met?" I ask her."well,we are meeting now,aren't we?"She says. I remember then asking"I know you somehow,Don't I?" All the woman did was smile.Her hand grasped mine,and she looked at me,directly in the eyes and said "It'll be OK,David." Then she hugged me,and I woke up.The woman in the dream was right.Two weeks later I found a new job and things began to turn around for real.However,I was still thinking about the woman ,trying to remember exactly what she looked like,but I couldn't quite connect it to anyone I know or knew.However,I remembered that voice clearly,but couldn't connect it with any voice I heard before.Eventually,I kind of forgot about the dream,or at least didn't think about it as much.Flash forward to around Christmas 2008.I was surfing through You Tube and came upon a video of a radio interview that was done with Karen in the late 70's.It occurred to me that I had never heard Karen's speaking voice before,so I listened with great curiosity.I was floored.The voice I heard in the interview,that distinctive voice was the same one from the dream.I finally made the connection,but couldn't believe it.As crazy as it sounds,I believe Karen Carpenter visited me that night.Was it my subconscious playing tricks on me? Was it wishfull thinking?Maybe, but somehow,It feels REAL.Whatever the case,it was the moment that turned everything around for me.So,Karen,If it WAS you that night and if you can see this...Thank you.I needed it very much. I only wish I could have been able to have been there in your life back then, when you needed to hear those words ,to return the favor.Maybe we will meet face to face again someday and share another hug. Anyway,enough with my ramblings! Again,I hope to get to talk to you all soon! Best wishes to all...and HI!

[gwen]

You mean that you were the youngest on here. Not any more & yes, Karen was a great singer & I love Karen's singin too & e-mail me cause I want to know what particular drugs you were takin? Maybe we can share? You had to be on some good XXXX when you wrote that composition & I want some!

[carpentersfan]

Hi i just read your post and i dont know if u still get on this site or not but i believe u when u said karen was in your dream and i believe from what you described at the time u were down and out and needed help and i believe karen came to u to help u because i believe that is the type of person karen was when she was alive she wanted to help people and so i think that is why u had that dream karen came to help u get thru a hard time in your life