My Best Friend in the Whole World     Of all the wonderful people I've met at Caption This, there's one that means the most to me. Her name is JorGGirrrl. Her and I capped together several times and I knew she had an awesome sense of humor that was unmatched by any one else there. Whenever I'd see her at CT, I knew I was in for a good laugh.   I can remember one of her caps from a long time ago was during "Ripley's Believe It Or Not" and a pic came up of a woman standing next to a fan and JorG said, "Every time something happens around here, I have to clean smelly brown stuff off this thing." I think it was after that cap session that she first wrote to me. It was (I think) May of 1997. The first thing I thought when I saw that she had written to me was, "Oh no! This is gonna be a strange E-mail!" It was! But, it was VERY funny too. So, I quickly replied to it. A few days later, she wrote to me again. In this one, she mentioned that one of her favorite bands was the Squirrel Nut Zippers! I couldn't believe someone else in the world actually liked them as much as I did! It was then that I realized that I had something in common with her and that I HAD to make her my friend!   As we talked about things like Jazz music and comedy, we found we had a LOT in common. One day, she came up with the idea that we do a tape trade through the snail mail. At first, I wasn't too hip to the idea of giving out my address to someone on the Net, but I figured, "What the Hell?" and did it. Not only did she send me some cool tapes, she made nifty little home-made cases for them too. When I was listening to the Louis Jordan tape she sent, I got to the end of side one and almost passed out because she added a bonus track of a Fats Waller song. Better yet, she recorded herself doing a funny little intro for it. I about fell on the floor when I heard her voice for the first time. I never really considered that the words on a screen I knew was actually a REAL person!   After that, she took a trip to Egypt for two weeks. I figured when she got back, she would have forgotten all about me. But, when she got back, she not only remembered me, but she said she had sent me a letter from Egypt! It was the funniest letter I had ever gotten from anyone! That's one of those things I'll save for the rest of my life! It was at this point that I realized I had something I had never had before in my life, a true friend.   As our friendship grew, we continued to do nice things for each other, including sending each other birthday and Christmas presents. We sent stuff to each other for no other reason then the fact that we just WANTED to! All this time, I didn't even have a clue what she even looked like. Finally, the desire to know got too great and I asked her for a picture exchange. To my surprise, she said yes! When I got the pictures she sent, I about had a heart attack! I couldn't believe how beautiful she is. I STILL can't believe it! On the other hand, I am VERY ugly and I think it's a testament to our friendship that despite my ugliness, she still considers me her best friend.   One of the cool things about our friendship is that we have turned each other on to things we each like. I think that's a true mark of a good friendship. She's turned me on to some GREAT movies that I had never seen before and some GREAT British comedy shows such as "The Black Adder" and "Red Dwarf". And in return, I've turned her on to things like The Bob & Tom Show and Wes Montgomery's music   Recently, I FINALLY worked up the courage to ask JorG to meet me in person. As hard to believe as it is, SHE SAID YES!!!!!!!!!!!! Talk about a dream come true! But, so far, we haven't made any plans. But, if we ever do meet, I HOPE to maybe post a picture or two of the two of us here on my web page (That is if SHE'S okay with the idea!). Talk about a Beauty and the Beast picture! Hopefully, this story WILL be continued for a LONG time to come!       This is a poem I wrote to JorG for her birthday. I think it sums up the way I feel about her!     My Best Friend   Alone in a dark room Wishing I had a friend All of my other friendships Had come to bitter ends   Then, as fate would have it on a very fateful day The nicest person in the world Wrote me an E-mail, had something to say   I know not why she did it or what was going through her mind But I’m sure glad she wrote to me A greater friend I could never find   Although she’s far away and I know I’ll never meet her I hold her friendship close to my heart As a friend, I could never find someone sweeter   Whatever happens in my life I hope this friendship doesn’t end I love her as if she were my sister She truly is my best friend  

          -for Leighanne

                 8-26-98