Before I go any further there is someone I need to thank for giving me the courage to write my pages. Does he know this? Probably not. Up until a year and a half ago I would not have written my pages and I certainly wouldn't have shared my thoughts and personal life with you. I have been pretty much a loner since I was kidnapped at age four. Being in an abusive marriage for twenty years didn't help either. I became a virtual recluse when my daughter passed away two months to the day that I moved to Baton Rouge. I didn't go any where except to work and back home. The only people I knew in the Baton Rouge area were my co-workers. Don't get me wrong, they are very nice people but we didn't know each other well enough for me to lean on them.

One day I went out and bought my WebTV unit. Why I don't know. I just did. I started out surfing around the web with no particular place to go. As I surfed I came across a chat room on Talk City. I was a lurker for a while. I simply sat and read the comments. It was fun. The people in the chat room all seemed nice and friendly. Once in a while I would make a comment. One evening this very funny guy made a wise crack at one of my comments. I thought it was great that I had interacted with a stranger.

Some how I became part of his mile long email list. He's made me laugh. He's made me cry. He's made me think. But most important of all, he has made me feel alive again. We are a lot alike. We are from the same generation and share the same thoughts on a lot of issues. Our conversations over the internet through email has been good for me. As I said, he has made me think. He has given me the courage to express myself. Does he know this? Probably not.

It's strange how someone you've never met can somehow reach out and give you the courage to make changes in your life, isn't it? I consider him one of the best friends I have ever had. I hope he considers me a good friend also. I love his funny wacky ways. It's been entertaining watching him get in and out of trouble. I hope that I can meet him someday in person, treat him to lunch and thank him for every thing he has done for me. Unfortunately that may never happen because of the many miles that are between us.

In case you are wondering, yes, I do care very much about him and how he is doing. I wish the very best for him in all that life offers. How can I not? It is because of him that I offer the following pages for you to read. Hopefully you will enjoy reading them and get something out of them so my work won't be in vain. (Am I going to tell who he is? No. I don't think I have the right to put him or anyone else on the spot other than myself.) NOTE: Enough already, ok? It's over a year later and I am still getting guesses on who he is and requests to reveal his name. Please reread the portion of this paragraph in parenthesis. Thanks!!!

Let me get a few things out of the way before you get to know me better. It seems that I get asked the same questions over and over once people find out that I'm from Louisiana. Yes, there are still some areas in our great state where people have to go by boat to reach dry land to get to their car or truck so they can go to town. No, not eveyone here practices VooDoo or believes in it. Many people here do believe in, and go to a treatuer to get a wart removed, a headache and various other ailments cured. No, I'm not a practicer of VooDoo or a treatuer, so don't write asking for a spell, a gris gris or a cure.

Yes, alligators do occasionally get disoriented, leave the swamp and end up in town. Not to worry though, the game warden quickly rounds them up and returns them to the swamp. No one ever gets eaten by one. In fact, we eat them. There is nothing quite as tasty as an alligator that has been fried, barbequed or put in a sauce piquante.

I also get asked a lot about my nickname. I got the nickname Peekaboo shortly after I began my career in the newspaper industry in 1981. Being in the advertising department, it seemed that I was seen practically every where. A few people started calling me Peekaboo because they said that they expected me to show up at any time and say "Peekaboo, I see you".