In Memory of Shamae...

How lucky I am to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard.

~Carol Sobieski and Thomas Meehan, Annie

You hear of those connections, you know, the connections between people, such as law enforcement or soldiers... the type of connection/bond that forms even with those you may have never even met. You rise when they need you, hurt when they hurt and when you lose them- you lose a part of yourself.

It may sound odd, but I understand that connection. Don't misunderstand, I do not think I am even remotely on the same level of a soldier or law enforcement. I just know what its like to have that connection with someone... because of the DOC.

Five years ago(as of yesterday) our lives changed forever. I spent about nine months lost. Then I found blogs...

Shamae's blog was one of two blogs I originally found and quickly fell in love with(Jill's was the other). All I could think was "I can't believe I'm not really alone". "There are others out there that feel this way". It was all so hard to believe, but it was also the start of healing for me and I will forever be grateful to her for that.

Not long after, the Sunday Night Chats began. It took me a while to muster up the courage to join in(I'm a little self conscious and all), but when I did, you can not possibly understand how much I looked forward to those chats. We literally sat up for hours, sometimes ridiculously late, laughing our butts off like we had been best of friends all our lives. I smile just thinking about it, but it also makes me a little sad that we allowed it to end. Especially now that it can never possibly be the same.

Makes you realize how important it is to keep in touch with those you love.