I’ve always wanted to say this to Erika James…
Years ago, my husband passed away. We couldn’t have kids, he was in the military, so we didn’t have any family near. It was just him and I.
A few years later, I discovered that my favorite singer was still performing, and I started to follow him around and attend some of his shows. He and his fans helped to pull me out of a funk. I almost always had one of his shows to look forward to. He played in Epcot every year, some years he also performed in his friend’s restaurant, and sometimes he toured with his old band. He was such a nice man. He loved his fans, and they adored him.
Then in 2012, he suddenly passed away. It’s still hard for me to talk about, and it’s still difficult for me to listen to his music. He and I of course weren’t friends, but he was like a family member to me. A favorite cousin that I got to see at family reunions, once a year. Suddenly, once again, it was all gone.
I loved to read when I was a kid, but later in life, when I went to college, I only had time to read whatever was required, and completely lost my love of reading.
Then this fun new contraption came along, something that could hold thousands of my favorite books. At first I just read biographies. But I soon discovered that I no longer had to hold one of those fat romance novels with Fabio on the front cover.
Then there was this new romance novel that was spreading throughout the universe. They were talking about it on the Today Show, Good Morning America and even on Regis and Kelly.
The fact that they kept talking about how steamy it was, caught my attention. (I’m a widow, remember?) I only bought the first book, just in case I didn’t like it, I wouldn’t have wasted my money. The sex caught my attention, but the love story kept me coming back.
I was so upset at the end of the first book; it took me two weeks to start reading the second. Even though I had friends promise me that it would be OK…I read them, and read them, and read them. I promised myself that I’d stop after ten times. Once I passed that mark, I just kept reading and stopped counting instead.
I’m sorry to say that I didn’t make the great friendships with FSOG fans that I had with my favorite singer’s fans, but I have indeed met some really nice people online, and they too helped to pull me out of a funk.
I wonder how many times I’ll see the third movie? Will it be anything like the first two? (FSOG – 28 times, FSD – 37 times.)
What will I have to look forward to when February has come and gone…?
Jan Beaudrie
South Carolina, USA
@JanB01
