Shortly after my husband and I got our first computer, I would sit in our den surrounded by its dark-paneled walls and single, overhead light, typing away at my keyboard. Inside my monitor, on the other side of clicking keys, a friendship was ignited thanks to the World Wide Web.

Though I had known her for a few years, I didn’t really become close to my friend Bean until she and I began emailing each other every day. EVERY. DAY. My screen, that room – the whole afternoon – could be brightened by my inbox. She’s the one who, upon seeing my user name “momofali” asked, “Who’s Momo Fali?” and, therefore, the reason the Internet calls me Momo.

She’s also the reason I write. Had it not been for those emails, for me telling stories, and for her saying that I could tell them well, I don’t think I would have ever started blogging. She laughed at my jokes, she cried with me when I was in pain and I shared so much of my life with her. She was my first blog reader – before I even had a blog.

She has always been my cheerleader as she is for everyone she loves. Even while her playing field has dealt her blows again, and again, and again, and again, and again. Injuries that would end anyone else’s career don’t stop her from crawling to the sideline and picking up her pom-poms for the rest of us.

Thank you, Bean, for backing me up when all I wanted to do was write. Thank you for, unwittingly, changing my life.

I’m shaking my pom-poms in your direction.

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