[Here is a woman who, after falling down a flight of stairs and consequently fracturing her heel, drew upon her courage and faith to beat her injuries! When she was finally permitted to drive again, the first thing she did was to dash out and purchase her WebTV unit after being enticed over and over again by those infomercials we have all seen. And she has never looked back. She is back on track now, pursuing her career as a nurse! A compelling story! And, oh yes, she is BabyDoll's proofreader...thus, BabyDoll's own angel!--ck]
Have you ever met an Angel? Well I have...and I first met Angel155 about a year ago in the HomePage Opinions NewsGroup. Angel155 is a single lady who lives in southern New England. She comes from a rather large family and has lost many loved ones to various forms of cancer. Her greatest loss to overcome was a 17-year relationship with the love of her life. Her lifetime love succumbed to a cancerous brain tumor in 1991. The reason Angel155 told me this is to explain why, in the middle of her life, she has gone back to college to become a registered nurse. She wants to specialize in Hospice Care.
Two years ago, Angel155 fell down a flight of cement stairs and broke her heel. It could not have happened at a worst time. She was in the middle of her EMT training and was also converting from Episcopalian to Catholic and the ceremony was to take place in three days! This was very important to her, as she takes her commitment to God very seriously. Nothing was going to stop her from being confirmed. With the help of family, friends and fellow parishioners, she was confirmed into the Catholic faith in a wheelchair. (To this day, she believes the devil pushed her down the stairs to test her faith...LOL!)
After having surgery to repair the broken bones, she was immobilized at home for 15 weeks. While flipping through the TV channels one night, she came across an infomercial about this VCR kind of thing that hooked up to your TV and you could send e-mail to your family and search the internet for information. She saw the commercial a couple of times, then called WebTV to find out where she could see a demo of this thing. When her surgeon told her it was okay for her to drive, Angel155's first trip was to a local discount store to purchase her WebTV Classic unit on July 4th, 1998. She brought the unit home and was online in 15 minutes. By the end of that night, she had discovered WebTV Users. She read each and every post and was fascinated by one particular person, Paul Erickson. Angel155 was in awe at all the things he said a person could do. She then started clicking on the bottom of people's posts and a whole new world opened up to her. "I was amazed at what everyday people could create, and thought...I need to learn how to do this!"
"I was on a mission. I knew I could learn 'HTML,' whatever that was." She started by looking at every page Paul had listed on his help site. "I had notebooks filled with backgrounds, gifs, bars and midis!" Now I had all that I wanted in order to create my webpage. The next question was how to put it all together. Where did I and everyone else learn 'HTML?' Why, at Draac.Com, of course! Now, I believe in the miracles of Angels, so naturally my first webpage was about angels and how they touch our everyday lives. From there, I wrote about the ordeal with my foot The Emergency Room Experience. (Disclaimer: graphic surgical photos, not for the squeamish...LOL). I have also added pages of my favorite prayers, a memorial to JFK, Jr., WebRings and awards my page has won."
"In September of this year, I will be starting the clinical portion of my Nurses' Training, and with working my full time job, taking classes and homework, my time on WebTV will be limited. After five years of taking a class here and a class there, I am finally reaching the end of the road and my Nursing Degree is within sight!"
She said that, for now, you can find her everyday at The HomePage Opinions NewsGroup. "We have the 'Best of the Best' at HPO. Our posters, both new and old, post their webpage asking for our opinions on how they can improve their site or find that special midi or gif. The group has honored me by voting me 'CEO of HPO,' (which really means I have all the headaches...LOL). I really have a great group of people working with me who make up the rest of the staff (and help make my job a 'piece of cake'). They are of all ages and personalities and we all work together for the whole of the group. Thank you Fay, Kathy, Ken, Chrissie, Kevin, and Carolyn. You guys and gals are the best!"
She said her mail averages anywhere from eleven to thirty-five messages per day. "I have been known to stay up all night trying to help someone get something to work on their page or in their e-mail. My greatest pleasure is helping someone, no matter what it takes or what he or she needs, whenever they need it.
She then stated her opinion about WebTV. "I know everyone complains about WebTV' however, I am not disappointed. This is not a computer, I didn't buy a computer, and I never expected to be able to do the things that computer users can do. This is a fun way to communicate with the world and hopefully have fun while doing it. If I had a complaint about WebTV, it would be that they do not enforce their own 'Terms of Service' when it comes to abuse. There are several mean people (trolls) who enjoy verbally abusing other WebTV users! They think it's fun! Well, it's not fun nor is it funny. It is rude, crude, and obnoxious. They don't care who they insult or hurt, yet when these people are forwarded to abuse because of TOS violation, WebTV ignores the complaint, and the abuse continues. In my opinion, these 'people' should have their service cancelled and never be allowed to register ever again from their phone number or under the primary user's name."
Angel1155's motto: "May our paths cross again and may I be there to help you in your hour of need, no matter what it may be."
~ Angel155~[Community Editor's Notes: What a beautiful quote to end your article. Your webpage 'Saga' was riveting!--ck]
