I sooo badly wanted contact with this boy that I went so far as to contact the phone company and order a phone book for Ottawa, Canada to be sent to my house. I also eventually got a Sprint phone card, so that I could make phone calls from home without them showing up on the regular phone bill. 

When the book arrived, I balked at how many Godfrey's were listed and decided instead to try another tactic. I knew the last names of several cast members from the show, so I thought I'd try that instead. There were only two listings for "Lindores", which was Vanessa's last name, and so I started there. I called one of the numbers one night, and Vanessa herself answered. Shocked, I just hung up the phone. I then proceeded to write out approximately four pages of blather in attempt to explain myself and my dilemma. A day or so later, after sitting around mustering up the courage, I called back. I think I read the first two sentences of my spiel, and then went off on a tangent. I actually had a pretty decent conversation with her, but in the end, she told me she couldn't give out anybody's contact info (naturally) and that I should try writing to the station, saying they would forward my mail. After talking to her, I wrote her a letter explaining that the reason I wanted to contact Matthew so bad was because I liked him, and figured maybe she could relate to that, having probably liked some guy at some time or other, and thanked her for her info.

Prior to receiving my phone card,  I devised some nifty tricks to get access to phones at school that would dial out, so that I could systematically try every Godfrey listed in the book after it arrived.I took a hall pass during my last class and ran down to the music department, where I knew no classes were going on that hour, and stuck gum into the door latch to the office so it would stay stuck in the door and not lock when it was shut. That way I could come back after classes and use the phone in there.

I hung out in the weight room after school, pretending to be training for the upcoming cross-country/cheerleading/whatever season, so I'd have a reason to be hanging around down there and have need to utilize the office down there to "call for a ride home" afterward. I was a genius, I swear.

So, I went through a handful of Godfreys to no avail before coming up to one where no one ever answered. This was right around Christmas break, so I chalked it up to them having gone away for the holidays, somehow just positive in my mind that this was the right one, and kept trying them daily for like, two weeks. I don't think I ever got an answer there... but eventually moved on.

One afternoon shortly after my phone card arrived, home alone and bored after school, I whipped out the book. I think I tried two numbers before I actually dialed the number that would change life as I knew it, forever. 

I thought I had all my bases covered. I don't know why, but it somehow never occurred to me the dude might actually answer the phone himself. I just figured either whomever answered would again tell me I had the wrong number, or say, "Just a minute, hold on." And then I'd have the opportunity to hang up real quick, knowing I had my info, but not having to deal with it yet. The third number I dialed on that fateful day began like any other:

"Hello?"
"Is Matthew there?"

"This is he."
Dead silence
Click!

I called my friend Angie, who normally had nerves of steel - she regularly threatened to beat the shit out of various girls at school and was never afraid to speak her mind. I'd have her call him for me! 

Well. I really had to talk her into it. I had to promise her a favor, and I wanted to listen in on the extension when she called. The next day, after school, she came over to my house and she called him. I chickened out on listening in at the last minute though, and passed her a pen and paper so she could write down the answers to any crucial questions I needed asked.

If I'm not mistaken, he answered again, and she launched right into it, saying something to the effect of, "Hi, you don't know me, but I have a friend who wrote to you - we're from the states - and she was kind of wondering if you'd write back to her." I can't remember exactly what all she said, but I guess he told her he'd never gotten anything from me personally, but he had the letter I'd written to Vanessa right there next to him! I died.

I had her ask him how old he was, then she scribbled on the notebook "16" and underlined it. She asked a couple other things, and then she said, "Actually, she's right here, if you want to say hello." and he was really cool - I managed to take the phone and speak a sentence, and he was sooo nice! We chatted for a couple minutes, and I asked him if he would mind if I called him every once in a while, just to chat. He was totally fine with it.

And now that I knew which entry in the phone book was his, I had his address as well! I started to write maybe, a letter a week, and called every other. I figured that wasn't too invasive. And he never made me feel like some overbearing fan or something; he always treated me and talked to me like a friend. Our average phone call was probably twenty minutes long. 

He wasn't the best about writing back, but he did write me three times, several pages. The third time he sent a picture, signed, "Your Friend", and I thought that was just the shit.

I can't remember exactly how long we stayed in touch; two years, maybe. It just kind of drifted off after awhile. I got a crush on somebody else I couldn't have, and sort of lost interest.

Recently, I began wondering whatever became of him, and I did a little sleuthing on the internet. I came up with this page, and couldn't believe that was him! I wouldn't have even recognized him. He looks good though, at least. And nice to see he's still acting. I wonder if he'd remember me...?