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More photos & letters from Chuck's friends.
Send your letters & photos and I'll post them or publish them in Chuck's newsletter.
Tossa Del Mar, Spain: My darlin' Chuck was such a great traveling companion. HE IS WONDERFUL! Here he is climbing castle walls and kicking back, watching the action on the beach. We had such great fun. I was so glad to have him with me. Love you! And Gracias, Mi Amigo! ox Deb, Oklahoma
Denise has traveled to Europe with Chuck and recently took him to see Asia in concert. And took him to the House of Blues. She makes him great clothes; too many to post. Aren't they great?
Hi Graham, my name is Denise. I just love Chuck, we're myspace friends! I have Ovarian Cancer, but I'm doing great. I am going to the UK and want to take two Chucks with me and give one to a friend. She's crazy like me because we know that life is too short not to have fun. She lost her dog recently and lives alone and has depression - so she'll love his company! I'm traveling by myself so I need compay. I'm going to take Chuck to pubs in Ireland, Scotland and England and have a great kilt outfit for him...and of course we'll go shopLondon for some really fancy duds!
You've Gotta vote!
I met Boneless Chuck at the City of Hope "Walk for Hope", in Los Angeles. I was so moved by him and peoples' letters and the hope he's brought to people's lives... wow. I was in tears and couldn't speak. I immediately fell in love with Chuck. I get him. I get the message.
I was very spiritually dead before I went on that walk and I really didn't wnat to go. But after meeting you and Chuck I realized that I had a message and a story to share just by being there. The whole experience was awesome for me, but meeting Boneless Chuck was the best.
There was a time I needed a Boneless Chuck and had no spine. I held onto a stuffed monkey I called "man". That's how shallow I was, I called him "man" because I actually thought a man is what I needed to fix m, but he gave me the hope that Chuck gives you and countless others. It's interesting that Chuck's birth year is 1989. That is the year I quit drinking and began AA, a life changing event for me. Thank you again, Graham...I just ordered 10! - Love Juli Smith..."b the message"
I FOUND YOU CHUCK! Are you crazy for Boneless Chuck too?
...OK, so on Sunday I came downstairs to find my husband already up and reading the morning paper. Not being much of a morning person I sat down quietly and stared blankly at the TV. I glanced down at the table and a familiar face caught my eye. In the blink of an eye I was screaming! "OH MY GOD BONELESS CHUCK"!! My husband, having just read about Chuck, (and had never heard of him previously), looked at me in disbelief over my excitement.
For Chuck and me it was a casual meeting at a local department store in Elmira, NY. I was browsing up and down the aisles and suddenly made eye contact with this short, pink, bald man. I looked away but was compelled to look back at him. He was still looking at me. I got up the nerve to go over to him and just smiled. Chuck came home with me.
Chuck became a true friend to me. He went everywhere with me. While riding in the car he would hep me by entertaining my kids. He would sing and dance and do funny poses. The thing that made us laugh the most was while stopped in traffic he would wave to everyone. He received many waves and smiles in return.
After years of understanding and lots of listening something terrible happened. Chuck disappeared during one of the hardest times in my life. I was going through a divorce and he was suddenly gone. To this day I still suspect foul play but could never prove it.
So you see, the fact that I have found Chuck again is just WONDERFUL. I can hardly wait to see him again. Time has passed, the kids have grown but I'm certain we will pick up right where we left off. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you for all teh laughs and memories you gave to me and my family, Graham. With sincere regards, Michele S.
Dear Graham and Chuck,
How awesome to find Chuck again! My original meeting with Chuck was sort of a family affair. While driving a truck across country, my Dad met Chuck at a small gift shop. I'm going to 24 yo. in two weeks; at age 15 had major surgery on my ankle. dad always said that Chuckgrought him luck while on the road an dwanted to brind me some comfort ot calm my neres, so he gamve me chuck to go into the operating room with me. The nurses dressed him up and all. Chuck looks great in scrubs! I've got tons of phots and a video of me and BC when we went to NYC... we travel a lot together. I'll send them.
Love, Raven Goodell
PS-Unfortunately, I'm having surgery again to remove my leg. Bummer, I know. But I'm counting on Chuck being there in surgery again for me. Thanks so much for creating him Graham. He's been the best and dearest friend.
A Beautiful Letter from Jacqueline...
(About her daughter, Lauren, on the left)
Dear Graham - I just wanted to write and thank you for your incredible thoughtfulness and tell you how much it has meant to my daughter and me. As most neighborhoods are short of children shouting frantically for help from balconies of burning buildings, most of us go our whole lives without getting to do anything heroic for another person. So, I just wanted to take the time to write and tell you how, in spite of the odds against it, you have managed to become a hero to two women you have never met.
My daughter Lauren first discovered Boneless Chuck on a visit to her grandparent’s home during a Christmas holiday when she was about 7yo. He belonged to my mother who thought he was the funniest thing she had ever seen and was fiercely attached to him. The reason behind her attachment is that her husband (Charles a. k. a. Chuck) is a very tenderhearted man who over the years has loaned a small fortune in tools to family, friends and neighbors who never return anything they borrow. His philosophy is they must need them worse than he does. My mother’s view is that he is simply too…um, boneless, shall we say, to ask for them back. Thus, she found Boneless Chuck hilarious.
Lauren and her brother are the only grandchildren, so their slightest wish had always been granted. However, the struggle over Boneless Chuck lasted that entire Christmas holiday. From the first moment Lauren laid eyes on him, she thought Boneless Chuck was the most wonderful thing she had ever seen and latched onto him like a barnacle. Although my mother allowed Lauren to play with him, she had no interest in surrendering custody. When Lauren realized that sweet smiles, batted lashes and subtle hints like “I wish Boneless Chuck could come and live with me” were not working, she finally asked directly if she could have him and received the first “No” she had ever heard from that source. However, as we were pulling out of the driveway to go home, my mother ran out to the car and presented Lauren with Boneless Chuck!
From that moment on Boneless Chuck became the most beloved companion of my daughter’s childhood; superseding even the rubber chicken that she had previously toted everywhere with her in lieu of a teddy bear. She slept with him at night, smuggled him to school on the days that I failed to frisk her at the door and took him with us on every family vacation. The airports would be filled with tiny children in sleeper suits dragging teddy bears and then there was my child; waist length curls, cherubic smile, tiny backpack with rubber chicken feet sticking out the top and Boneless Chuck clutched possessively in her arms.
This continued for seven years until tragedy struck and Boneless Chuck was stolen from a playground during a vacation in Las Vegas. Although she and her friends conducted their own Amber Alert and an exhaustive search and rescue operation – Boneless was never heard from again. We phoned my parents in Virginia and asked them to check the store where he had originally been purchased but to no avail; Boneless Chuck was apparently no longer available anywhere, at any price. Lauren cried most of the way home and mourned for him as though she had lost a family member. My mother wasn’t all that happy about it either.
Lauren is now 19. For the most part, toys have been replaced by make-up, a cell phone and a Jeep, but she has still mentioned Boneless Chuck often over the years - especially if she has been sad or going through a difficult time. At these times I’ve googled and ebayed Boneless Chuck but never found any reference to him until a few weeks ago!
Lauren was one week away from undergoing major surgery; she was very frightened and in a great deal of pain. I sat up with her night after night helplessly watching as the narcotics did little more than take the edge off her pain and wishing I could do something, anything, to cheer her. At 3:00am on a particularly bad night when she had finally fallen asleep from exhaustion rather than the absence of pain, I sat down and, in desperation more than hope, once again googled Boneless Chuck. You cannot imagine my surprise and delight when saw a listing for the Official Boneless Chuck web site! I was so excited that I didn’t read anything; I just saw the picture of our dear friend and a button that said “Buy Chuck Now” and ordered him. Had I bothered to read the homepage, I would have known I was actually only placing a pre-order because Boneless Chuck had been out of production for many years and you were now trying to bring him back on your own due to the response you’d received from fans like us. But I missed all that and so when I did not see an express shipping option, I included a note with the order asking you to please ship him as soon as possible, explaining that I desperately wanted Boneless Chuck to be waiting for Lauren at the hospital when she woke up from the anesthesia. She was very frightened and I couldn’t think of anything that would lift her spirits more than being reunited with her old friend.
Instead of a brief email explanation, which you could so easily have sent, I am still awed that you went to the unbelievable effort of searching for me on the internet until you were able to locate a phone number to go with my name and address so that you could personally call and tell me that although Boneless Chuck was still a minimum of two months from his earliest possible production date, your own personal Boneless Chuck was autographed and on his way to Utah to be there for Lauren when she woke up.
And then you were kind enough to call and inquire about her the day after her procedure, which touched us both. Thankfully Lauren’s surgery went well. I wish however, that you had been there to see the look on her face when she opened your box. It is a moment that I will always cherish; open-mouthed astonishment followed by laughter and tears…truly gifts beyond price, given to us with no thought of return by a man we have never met. I’ve enclosed photos of that wonderful moment for you. (That's Lauren on the left)
We have been Boneless Chuck fans for many years but we just wanted you to know that we’re now Graham Sale fans as well! Thank you so very much for your incredible thoughtfulness and generosity. With love, gratitude and best wishes from Utah...Jacqueline and Lauren Lee
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