I Met Sheryll on Tuesday!!!

[Ebony]

Hey everyone:

I am feeling really very blue this Saturday evening, and no one seems 
to be around, so I think I'll post something I've been meaning to for 
days!

Sheryll breezed through my humble, gritty ol' hometown early Tuesday 
morning on her way to Thanksgiving with another HP4GUer (waves at 
Amanda).  We met up at the Greyhound bus station and at first we 
didn't know each other--I'd never seen a picture of her and she'd 
only seen those from this summer, taken before I cut off all my hair 
in some sort of latter-day rite of disillusionment (more on that 
later--I'll post new pics to the London list soon).

We went to the local Burger King of all places (hey, it was 5:45 in 
the morning!) and chatted for nearly an hour and a half.  I'm afraid 
I wasn't very good company... the afternoon before, I'd received a 
reprimand at work and as a result I'd slept all of two hours before 
getting up to meet her.  I also had an eight o' clock meeting with my 
supervisor regarding the reprimand to look forward to.  (NOTE to any 
employers onlist:  your lemmings are a bit more astute than you 
know.  Either write the letter OR call the meeting; don't do both.) 

Anyway, Sheryll is a WONDERFUL lady and was a joy to be around!  Even 
first thing in the morning, BEFORE coffee (and I don't even think she 
had any!), she was cheerful and very much like a breath of fresh 
air.  She set the tone of my entire day with her chatter about her 
family, the list, the movie, and was very eager to see the pictures 
of the Londoners that I took (Brits, I will scan soon--I've better 
pics of Dai and Catherine, at least, than are on the list 
currently).  She took the copies with her to share with Penny and 
Amanda... I dropped her off at the station, and she breezed out of 
town.

Like Dai (grins), I must say that I love this fandom.  I love the 
people I've met here and the lives that have touched mine.  You guys 
are one in a million... and this is going to sound really very silly, 
but I must say that this fandom has changed my life.  (Stop 
laughing!  It has!)

I began reading Harry Potter in either late January or early February 
2000.  At the time I was a good little church girl who was living 
with my mother, a wet-behind-the-ears newbie teacher with stars in 
the eyes and a desire to save the world, a faithful girl waiting on a 
sweetheart in the military to be ready for a lifetime commitment, and 
basically someone with an unhealthy tendency to categorize people who 
weren't like me.  I had a bunch of good Christian friends who were 
just as straightlaced and wholesome as I was, too.

Now, nearly two years later, I am so different that it is shocking.  
I no longer live with my mother.  I no longer think I'm going to hell 
if I miss a Sunday or two of church, if I write a sex scene into my 
fan or original stories, or if I read Harry Potter novels.  I was 
struck by a sudden desire to study abroad in England, even though I'd 
had opportunity in high school and undergrad and my family frowned 
upon it.  I told that soldier that yes, indeed, I could live without 
him.  I took another teaching position at a school that I wasn't sure 
about just because I saw myself growing complacent and restless.  I 
have a bunch of good friends who run the gamut of personality and 
philosophy... and they ain't all Christians, either.

Best of all, I've met so many wonderful people that it makes my head 
spin whenever I stop and think about it.  It is amazing to think of 
all the friendships that I have forged through this fandom... sure, 
I'd met people from the Kindred Spirits (Lucy Maud Montgomery) list 
before, but I'd never experienced the depth of acceptance, of genuine 
concern, and of concern that I've found here from anything that had 
its origins online.  For the most part, HP4GU and satellites are safe 
places... and I've learned so much about everyday life in the rest of 
the world from being here.  And about everyday people.  :-D

Something in Rowling's writing has liberated me.  Two years ago I was 
a much different person than I am now... my world was a lot more 
orderly, but I don't think it was half as interesting.

Thanks for being here!

--Ebony AKA AngieJ