How I met the Wonderful Colette!!

Sorry about the rhyming. I'm a poet and don't even know it. (okay that was worse!)

I have known Colette since the very early days of my being online, so we're going back about 13 years now.

Back then the only online service I knew of was Cleveland Freenet. I had a 2400 baud modem at the time, the service was all DOS based, and it bumped you off automatically after every hour.

I was dy318, in the chat room better known first as Galbraith (meaning British Stranger) then later as Liam.

I still remember the first time I spoke to Colette (at the time going by the name Rhiannon). I asked her if the British Stranger may approach the Welsh Witch. We hit it off immediately. I think she was happy to talk to a guy who wasn't trying to get her phone number or try some lame-ass seduction.

The friendship progressed slowly at first, we only spoke when we saw each other online, so for those first couple months she was only a name on a screen. Then November 5th, 1993 happened. That was the day I lost my beloved mother to a heart attack.

I told her online that evening. Without batting an eye, she put up her phone number and said I should call if I needed anything. She may not have known it at the time, but that meant the world to me. That someone who only knew me through this one's and zero's medium would do something like that.

We met in person soon after that, and I found someone I didn't even know I'd lost. It's not often in this world that we meet people who feel like a missing piece of our lives.

A lot has happened since then, I lost my father soon after that. She's been divorced twice, I've had a series of problematic relationships (to say the least). We've been there for each other. In many ways she's been much more of a sister to me than my own sister has.

I hope she knows there isn't anything I wouldn't do for her, so when she asked me to help "guest host" this blog in her absence, of course I jumped at the chance.

It's been a couple months at least since I've seen her, and I sorely do miss her. I hope I'm on that list of friends she wants to spend some time with.

Thanks for this opportunity darling, I hope to do you proud!