“Some people come into our lives and quickly go. Some stay for awhile and leave footprints on our hearts. And we are never, ever the same.”

Today is the birthday of Sue Davis, also known as Suebob, also known as Suebob from Red Stapler, someone a lot of bloggers adore, and when I got an email asking me to post something for her birthday, something that would let her know how special she is to me, I knew exactly what I wanted to post. This is part of the Incredibly True Story of How I Went to BlogHer 2006, and the story starts with Suebob!

On May 16, 2006, I had been blogging for eight months when I got an email that changed everything. Suebob (yes, SueBOB, it’s been her nickname for a long time) from Red Stapler had run a contest to give away a free pass to that summer’s BlogHer conference, and the winner of her contest, IzzyMom, had already purchased her ticket and wanted to give her free pass away to someone else.

Izzy emailed me to see if I wanted her BlogHer ticket, which of course caused me to freak the heck out before emailing back YES and OMG.  When I emailed Suebob to let her know that I was the person getting the ticket and to ask how I went about finding a roommate to split the hotel cost with me, she replied back that she had booked a room and didn’t have a roommate, so how would I like to room with her and not to worry about the cost?

My mind was practically blown out of my head at that point. EIGHT months I had been blogging, I had never been to Sue’s blog, and yet she was fine with me taking this free conference ticket AND was offering to be my roommate AND was excited to meet me.   I didn’t know it then, but my entire life, not just my blogging life but my entire LIFE, was going to change in just a few short months.  Best of all, THIS:

IzzyMom and Suebob at BlogHer

Because Suebob had that contest, because she offered to let me share her room, and because another blogger used her Delta SkyMiles to buy my entire plane ticket and another blogger offered to let me stay at her house Sunday night and would drive me to the airport Monday morning – keep in mind, EIGHT MONTHS Of blogging and having never ever met another blogger in person – because Suebob’s contest set that chain in motion, I am not only the blogger I am today, I am greatly changed as a person today.

Because I went to BlogHer that year, because I listened to Ariana Huffington tell us in the Closing Keynote Address that she was overcoming her fears and starting a new website (HuffingtonPost!), because I grabbed a pen and on the back of one of my business cards I wrote:

1. Find your voice.
2. Stop apologizing. Be proud of who you are and what you do.
3.Stop hesitating. Move yourself forward.
4. You ARE worthy.

When I got home, I bought table4five.net and a hosting package. I bought a Pro Flickr account. Because I went to BlogHer, because Suebob set the wheels in motion, I became the blogger I am today – heck, I became the person that I am today.  I had been trying for years to find my creative outlet.  I had no idea what blogging really could be until I went to BlogHer ’06.

If you’ve been to a BlogHer conference, you’ve probably seen Suebob. She’s the lady with the camera and the red Swingline stapler, asking people to pose.  Go to Flickr and type Red Stapler into the search box and you’ll see what looks like thousands of pictures of people with Suebob’s stapler! I even got one of her with the stapler:

Happy, Happy, Happy Birthday Suebob! You are a beautiful person with an enormous heart and I hope your birthday is as special as you are. I hope you know that I think of you not just as a blog friend, but as a friend friend.

Send birthday greetings to Suebob through her Twitter, Facebook, or blog!