>Dear Jimmy-
I am writing because my 17 year old daughter Leta has a giant crush on you. I know you are married and have a child, but I thought you might want to meet my daughter anyway. Every chance she gets she goes on her iPad, and plays one of your zany clips from The Tonight Show… I know , I know, you are thinking, so does the rest of America, but you see, my daughter has special needs and can not read or write, so the fact that she seeks your show out with intent is a fascinating mystery to me. She is only 3 feet tall ,and has a rare genetic syndrome that only two other kids in the world share with her that causes heart and lung disease. She has spent way too much of her 17 years in the intensive care unit at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. But Jimmy, I don’t want you to feel sorry for her. When she is at CHOP we lie in her bed and watch videos of you and you make her laugh, Jimmy…the kind of belly laugh that I can only get her to make when I kiss her stomach and make fart noises. Despite all her cognitive disabilities, she somehow manages to navigate the computer to find your YouTube skits every time she gets a chance. And her persistence to find your show, has made me seriously re-evaluate what the so called experts tell us about her limited cognitive ability. I think humor is a sign of great intelligence and I swear Leta gets the joke. Because of you, I now think we have all been underestimating her IQ. She has great taste in the skits she likes to watch. Her favorites are your JLo tight white pants skit, your lip sync contest with Emma Stone, and the Kevin Hart roller coaster ride,.. oh and then theres the reunion of Full House skit, and the Housewives of The Tonight Show episode… truth be told, Jimmy, she loves them all and would watch them for hours if I let her.…. You are silly in a way that seems to cross all racial, social, and economic divides, but I also wanted you to know that a special needs little girl in Philadelphia finds you hilarious. I have tested the waters to see if she like other comedians as well but
she has no interest in Stephen Colbert, or Jon Stewart or Jimmy Kimmel. (sorry guys) I have done a double blind trial to test my theory …and you win every time… You tickle her funny bone….and are right up there with The Wiggles and Spongebob in our house. I mean that as high praise. So I want to thank you for making her laugh. A few weeks ago, we thought we were going to lose Leta. Christmas Eve, she coded while in the CHOP pediatric intensive care unit. The amazing doctors got her on life support and she made a full recovery, but her medical issues are chronic and scary. So I guess I just wanted you to know that you continue to bring laughter to our house daily. And that is the greatest gift anyone could ever give us.
With Great Admiration,
Leta’s mom