A Doting Dad's Letters Find Fame on 'Humans of New York'
By Ben Woods
When Brandon Stanton, author of the popular blog Humans of New York, put out a call for “quarantine stories” last month, he received thousands of responses from around the world.
One of those responses was from Rosie Ecker.
“I chewed on the idea for a few days before I submitted a snippet about my dad and his letters. Truly thought nothing would ever come of it. But being raised by all these strong people in my life, I knew to just submit it anyways,” says Rosie, a veteran Ogichi staff woman whose own blog, Queen Speak, is featured in the current issue of Songs of the Paddle.
Rosie Ecker, in a selfie featured on Humans of New York
“Poor Andrew, he really thought someone had died from my screams. Then I got concerned about where my coneys were going to end up.”
“Then, on Easter Sunday, I ate (downed) three Skyline coneys, sitting next to [my boyfriend] Andrew Paulik in his truck. I wiped my face with a napkin, looked down at my phone and saw an email back from Brandon,” she says. “Poor Andrew, he really thought someone had died from my screams. Then I got concerned about where my coneys were going to end up.”
Brandon interviewed Rosie over FaceTime later that day and published her words on Instagram and Facebook the following Tuesday. In the style that made Humans of New York famous, the post reads as a single stream-of-consciousness monologue—an unadulterated reflection of the speaker: in this case, a strong-spirited young woman whose father loves her very much.
“My dad is a character. Literally,” the post begins. “His actual name is James. But everyone calls him Buz—with only one ‘z.’ He loves being the center of attention. When I was a kid, whenever we took family photos, he’d lift up his shirt to show off his hairy stomach. And he still calls my grandmother every April Fool’s day to tell her my mom is pregnant. Not everyone thinks he’s funny.”
Buz, a Cincinnati native and one of many Eckers to make a mark on Kooch-i-ching and Ogichi over the decades, is rightly described as character. But he is also a doting dad and prolific penman.
“The letter writing started in fourth grade. I went to a sleep-away camp thirty minutes from my house, and he wrote me letters every day. Then he did it again in fifth grade. And sixth. And seventh. My trips to camp grew longer until I was working as a counselor and staying all summer. And he still wrote me a letter—every single day,” the post continues.
Buz and Rosie in 1997—another photo featured on Humans of New York
“Whenever we took family photos, he’d lift up his shirt to show off his hairy stomach. And he still calls my grandmother every April Fool’s day to tell her my mom is pregnant.”
The letters kept coming, even as Rosie went to college, graduated, and got a job. To date, she has received nearly 500.
“He once wrote 250 words about his Subway sandwich. I don’t think he can stop at this point. It’s part of his character,” she says. “But I also view the letters as insane devotions of his love. He cries every time he takes me to the airport. He brings me flowers whenever I’m sad. With all his quirks, I really lucked out with this guy.”
The post ends with a moment of reflection. “I was once talking with my friend, and I asked her if she thought my dad was…you know…a little…‘different.’ And I’ve always remembered her response. She said: ‘If he is, would you even care?’”
Since it was published, Rosie’s post has been “liked,” “loved,” shared and commented on by nearly a million people across the globe.
“I love this soooooooo much,” wrote the Oscar-winning actress Hilary Swank. “Super beautiful love story between a father and daughter.”
Started as a photography project in 2010, Humans of New York continues to share images of its subjects, and Rosie’s post is accompanied by several. A bright-eyed selfie. Buz throwing his head back in laughter while carrying his first grandson. Rosie’s tiny hand on her father’s leg as he pilots a motorboat across a lake. A stack of letters she has received over the years.
Despite the outpouring of adoration for Rosie’s post, it took Buz some time to understand why she was so excited about it.
“He joked that he'd now have to walk around with a notepad and pen in case people needed his autograph,” Rosie says. “But then when I called my mom this evening to check in, she said ‘The news has settled and he's back to splitting wood in the driveway.’”
“He was also happy that the comments on the post reinforced that I should feel blessed and lucky to have him as a father,” she adds. “He'd read one out loud to me over the phone and say, ‘Right! You are lucky!’ And then he would laugh for awhile.”