IN PRAISE OF MOM:
MEETING RENEE O'CONNOR'S MOTHER
By Catherine M. Wilson (cmwilson@wildestdreams.com)
Content © 1997 held by author
WHOOSH! edition © 1997 held by Whoosh!
908 words
Sandra Wilson, affectionately referred to as 'Renee's Mom,' has won the hearts of all who have had the pleasure of meeting her. This small tribute consists of comments made by the fans who dropped by the ROC Fan Club table, where Sandra was hard at work on her daughter's behalf. These comments were emailed to me privately or appeared in posts about the Con on the various Xena mailing lists.
"the lovely..... the gracious.... the wonderfully warm, not to mention endearing.... MRS. RENEE!!!!!!!!!!! a/k/a Sandra Wilson.... Renee's mother."JACQRAT, in a post to the Xenaverse mailing list
"Quick note about Renee's Mom. This woman was a complete doll!!! Just the nicest lady you'd ever wanna meet. She's sooo proud of Renee and seemed to be so into meeting the fans and *talking* to them. Every time I saw her she was grinning from ear to ear! My suggestion to the ladies who were there and talked with her (I believe her name was Sandra Wilson? Everyone just called her "Renee's Mom"), send her a thank you note. She was just sooo accessable and kind....she deserves a BIG thanks!"Stacey -- the XENA obsessed
"Renee's mom was sweet, charming, pretty, down-to- earth, and as cute as she could be. She had an ear to ear smile the whole time I spoke with her, and she seemed genuinely thrilled to meet her daughter's fans. She was very comfortable talking with me as if she had known me for years. I told her how happy I was that she came to the convention, and she kept saying over and over again how wonderful, sweet, and terrific all of the fans are.... She graciously allowed me to take a picture with her (arms around each other). In essence, Renee's mom is a beautiful soul!"TRBL007@aol.com (Marilyn)
"Hi, Just thought I'd share my experience with Renee's mom. She was very friendly and so sweet. As I was walking by her table she looked up, caught my eye as I was looking at the pictures and offered me one. Then she extended her hand and introduced herself and showed me the address on the back for Renee's fan club and said to write any time, that she would be happy to answer any questions. I just told her to be sure to let Renee know how much her fans appreciate her hard work on the show, and when Sandy smiled I was struck by how much Renee's smile resembled her mom's. It was a nice experience for me, as was the entire con."Pat
"Wasn't Renee's Mom just too wonderful? ... I thought Renee's Mom was the nicest person in the world. It's no wonder Renee is so cute."HarkerE
"RENEE 'O CONNOR'S MOM IS AN ABSOLUTE SWEET HEART DOLL WONDERFUL PERSON!! We all love this woman--and she loves us too! She hugged us, posed for pictures with us and told me lots of good things about her daughter ... I got to talk to her for several minutes... If Renee is half as sweet as her Mom then she deserves much much success."Cathy
"I got to meet Renee's mom in person .... You guys all can imagine how wonderful Renee must be in person, based on her characterization of Gabrielle. Well, after meeting her mother, it is obvious where she got that from."Sal_Fan
"The ladies are absolutely correct when they say that Renee's mother was fantastic! She sat and talked to everyone, ... she answered every question ... " "I didn't really converse with her ... What I did observe was a truly gracious charming woman who laughed and told stories for the seemingly insatiable Gabbers surrounding her. ... I remember at some point some young girls came up to look at the club info, and Sandra saw them come up. She graciously excused herself from the throng of people surrounding her and went to go and talk to the young girls. She knelt down and started speaking to them."Dyann
What was very wonderful to observe was that Ms. Wilson was so gracious, and patient and down-to-earth with everyone who approached her--from little curious children to this heavy-duty biker dude in leather to this one girl who kept coming back every 15 minutes. She welcomed their questions and enthusiastically invited them to join Renee's club. She was so very much like your basic, loving mom who would gladly invite all her daughter's friends over for a slumber party. The only problem was that her daughter had at least 2000+ friends (and that was only at the convention). She treated Renee's fans with a great deal of care and respect and attention, which made a person like me really respect her in turn. In my humble opinion, Ms. Wilson is definitely the one to run Renee's fan club. Not only is she obviously one of Renee's greatest fans, but she has a tremendous energy and an open, warm spirit that's so reflective of "Xena: WP." For me, she and people like her are what make being involved with anything related to the show such GREAT FUN!!!Grace
"I just loved her."Anonymous
The last quote, from an anonymous fan, could have been said by anyone who met Sandra. Fellow fans, do not miss an opportunity to meet this truly wonderful woman.
January 11-12, 1997
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