For a long, long time, I thought that I would always be alone in this world. I'm a very shy, quiet person by nature, and that makes it hard for me to get out and make friends, let alone find someone who I'd want to share a lifetime with. But, somehow, it happened, when I least expected it...

Emma, was a net-friend whom I had met in the Mercedes Lackey newsgroup and started writing back and forth with in May of last year. I didn't have local internet access at the time, so when I was visiting my friend Connie the first week in June, Emma and I met up to chat for the first time on IRC. She was at school, and her good friend and 'adopted brother' Sam was visiting her for the weekend, and so he was reading over her shoulder and making comments now and then, while Connie read over my shoulder and did the same. We all chatted a little bit, and I found that I rather liked his silly sense of humor.

After that, he posted a couple times on the newsgroup, and so I wrote him a message and we eventually started writing back and forth. By August, we had both begun to fall for each other, and we were trying to figure out how we could manage to meet in person, since he was doing co-op work in Maryland and going back to school in Virginia for the fall semester, while I live in Missouri, some 850 miles away.

Emma is a filk fan, and suggested that she and Sam meet me and Connie in October at the Ohio Valley Filk Festival. So, plans were made and tickets were bought, and we were all anxiously waiting for the almost three months to pass by. The days passed, and finally we all got together at OVFF.

Sam swept me of my feet ... literally! We all met in the hotel lobby, and the first thing he did was pick me up in a giant hug. Later that evening, we went out under the stars and talked and snuggled, and spent most of the next two days together, before it was time to go home again. It was a wonderful time, but it wasn't near long enough. We said our goodbyes and tried not to get too emotional, and headed off to the airport, not sure when we would see each other again.

A live cam from Virginia Tech We still chat almost every day on IRC, and call voice once or twice a week (sometimes more), and of course send e-mail messages... ah, the wonders of a net-romance. Instantaneous communication without the phone bills (well, except for the voice calls)... and though we are physically apart, we have grown closer emotionally over the intervening months.

What is it about Sam Baughman that I love so much?

I love his smile, and the way he laughs.... his tenderness and patience... his silly sense of humor and the fact that he is just as into computers as I am... okay, even more than I am. I love the sound of his voice, his love-letters and his kisses... the feel of his arms around me, the poems he writes me, the virtual flowers he sent, and the songs he dedicates to me... I love him heart and soul, but the thing about him that I love the most is that he loves me, just as much.

In just six months, he has changed my life completely... I know now that I won't be alone for the rest of my life, and that there is someone who is willing to share the rest of my days with me, and to show me what love is all about.


Sam, I love you, baby...

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