DallasBill, congratulations! It indeed sounds like you were offered a promotional opportunity to sign up by March 25 to get your Gold status comped through this current status year (as opposed to a buyback or a comp based on being, say, 500 miles from 25,000 miles) - very nice!

Thanks for sharing this with us - I'd have expected an offer to repurchase; someone at AA has a heart? (This has been merged into the 2010 status renewal/renewal thread as it is related, and adds another possibility to those who were targeted).