I received this on Valentine's Day, 2003, from AutumnSunrise. There's a bit of a story behind this piece; again, only read on if you are interested in boring personal stuff.

I was sort of dating a girl at this time (long distance); she was also a friend from Wild Fury, and we were together for only a few months (my relationship prior to that one also only lasted a few months. I explained that briefly here. Autumn had been unavailable during her high school years; she had a local boy friend. She put that on hold when she entered college, but neither she nor I said much regarding that, and we remained friends.

I kept a fairly low key about my relationship with this girl, partially because I wasn't sure where it would lead and partially because my previous date was fairly open about public display of her affections, which I felt uncomfortable about. I am not sure if Autumn knew we were involved, but I ended up receiving two Valentine's Day pictures that year, both posted publicly on the forums. This landed me in an awkward situation - and not just for the obvious reasons.

This picture was the first time Autumn expressed her feelings for me, and she was someone I had secretly pined for many years. I ended up making the difficult choice of breaking things off with the girl I was with, which... in retrospect, was very harsh to do (on Valentine's Day, too) and I probably seemed like such an ass.

But happiness is love is important, you know... and you can only be happy with the person you truly, deeply, feel for. And I did love Autumn deeply. So, it was because of this picture, we became a couple.

At least for about a year or so. And it was... a bit of a stormy year.

Do I regret my decision, though? No... I don't think I do. I am glad we were given a chance, and above all things, she was - and still is - my best friend, now 17 years and counting. In this she will always have my love. And as for the panther and the black wolf in the picture... I would like to think they lived happily ever after, 'til the end of their days.