Well, well...where should I begin? I am Caecilia. I was born on March 11, 1980 in Chicago, Illinois. I was never an only child. I grew up as the second of a set of twins, the second child of four girls, and the first child through school. I went to Our Lady of Victory Grammar School in Chicago for Kindergarten through eighth grades. I was, believe it or not, never really too popular there, as my classmates didn't much like the idea of a kid who was younger than them making them all look like a bunch of idiots. Needless to say, I skipped a lot of school with the assistance of my mom, who realized quite early in my career there that I wasn't going to learn anything there, anyways. She and my dad tutored me at home on the finer points of things, from writing papers to working out algebraic and geometric equations. *shrugs* What can I say? I used to be a pretty smart kid once upon a time.

After graduating from there, I went on to Regina Dominican High School in Wilmette, Illinois, where I would get an opportunity to start on a clean slate, so to speak. None of the girls I had graduated with went there...I felt it would be better that way. When I started there, I took advantage of that fact daily, transforming from the shy, quiet little girl that I was in the beginning there into the social butterfly tht you all know and love now. ;-) It was also there that I began my long and still continuing affair with that thing called the Internet. It was there that I started chatting, playing in BBS's, using email daily, building websites and learning about sys and network admin.

In 1997, I graduated with Highest Honors and went on to the University of Rochester in Rochester, New York. It was nice and far away from Chicago, all of the difficult things that were going on in my life at the time, and going that far away provided me with yet another opportunity to not only expand my educational horizons, but also to learn more about myself than I ever imagined possible. Being away provided me with all kinds of opportunities to do that, from day one when my parents dropped me off in my dorm and immediately turned around and left, saying "Sorry, baby...we have a party to go and break up..."I was alone in that dormitory for a few days at least, until I heard some commotion outside of my window...and found the first set of friends I made out there...the International Students, having just arrived themselves and beginning their orientation. They invited me to join, and join I did. Later in the next week, the first of my suitemates arrived to the dormitory from Las Vegas. She was a harpist that I had met on a previous trip to the University, and I couldn't wait to see her again. She was probably one of the best friends I had for that first year...after that, we kind of lost touch...I have a very bad habit of doing that after a while...

In any event, it was also through this suitemate that I encountered my first real love interest in college. He was a hockey player. I was a figure skater. He annoyed the hell out of me my first time back on the ice after a long hiatus due to an injury. Then he asked me for my number. Thus began a two-year romance that wound up being my first lesson in the genetic defect my mother calls "X-Y Chromosomal Disorder." It was simple. I got really sick in college from something that I was obviously allergic to in the air...we still haven't figured out what...and I gained some weight from the medication. On top of that, he had a very difficult time with the concept of a female who was, in everyone's opinion, far more intelligent than him. I couldn't see the problems as they surfaced, which I boil down to nothing more than love being blind. In my case, love is *very* blind. But we'll have more on that later. I was devastated when we finally broke up. I mean totally wrecked. I didn't skate for a long time, and I still don't do it too much...but now, I think it's more laziness than anything to do with him.

For the next few months, everything in my life changed drastically, from the people I hung out with to my typical after-school activities. I started taking extra classes at Rochester Institute of Technology, and ran into a couple of people I hadn't seen in a while, but considered friends. It was one of the best things that happened to me, and shaped in a huge way my life since then. These people introduced me to one of the things that has become a mainstay in ny life, and are the reason that I have many of the friends and experiences that I have gained. They were a huge part of me finally taking my time in college to find myself.

I still remember the day I was coerced into going to RWAG for the very first time. I was so hesitant...gaming? Was I that much of a dork that I had to start *gaming* to have a life? And what was up with that LARP stuff they wanted me to try? I started playing in a troupe game of Vampire: the Masquerade...and things were never the same.

I met so many really cool people over the course of that time, and a few of them integrated themselves into the new social circle I had been adopted into. We hung out every night, played lots of Playstation games (primarily of the FF type) and did lots of other really cool stuff. This went on for months, until the worst thing that could possibly happen did...One of our group got mortally ill literally overnight. We were there in the hospital every day with him from beginning to end. A couple of my newfound friends, as well as the guy who would soon become major college love interest number two, drug me off into the world of the global Cam game, just to keep me sane. It was probably one of the best things that they did for me. It was the beginning of another new cha[ter of my existence in college...especially after I got back, and this person who was so ill, one of my best friends, left me.

The Cam took on a whole new meaning for me after that...it wasn't just a game. It was a whole organization. They weren't the stereotypical antisocial gamers. They were all there for everything...the planning, the wake, the funeral, and the aftermath. And, through all of this new chaos, I started seeing the guy that I almost married.

One of the biggest mistakes I ever made was allowing things to go so fast there. However, I have this terrible tendency to fall...and fall *hard*...when I fall for someone. The utter speed was probably, in retrospect, one of the things that ultimately lead to our downfall. It was a period of lots of ups and downs. I went into the hospital with pneumonia not even two weeks after I started my senior year of college. Things were never the same ofter that. He never got over treating me like a china doll that could only be looked at and never taken out. Fortunately for both of us, we realized how bad things had gotten before our relationship was totally irreparable, and now we can still call each other friends. He's probably one of the best friends I have now, and I am truly thankful for that.

So I moved back to Chicago in August, 2002...back to an old place with totally new stuff going on. My baby sister was graduating from high school. I realized how much I had missed here while being out there. It was a really tough realization. Another one that I found was how much it totally sucked being alone in this huge city. All of my friends were in the Northeast...not here. I realized this more and more the more I tried to acclimate myself into the folds here. It just didn't happen. Even in my beloved Camarilla....until just this past February or March, when I met someone who has been a total godsend to me. He's like my big brother, my best friend. His girlfriend isn't bad, either...we just don't have anywhere near as much in common as far as life goes.

A new chapter in my life started when I first started playing in the Cam again back here, I met someone who I became friends with right off the bat. His synicism, his humor, and his fabulous Irish wit helped us to really hit it off as friends. Unfortunately, we didn't get a whole lot of time to hang out before he decided to enlist, and subsequently leave, for the Air Force. However, we did get one chance that wound up being absolutely pivotal in the course of our relationship. Neither one of us realized how pivotal, however, until he returned on leave not too long ago. When he got back, it was absolutely amazing to me how easy it was for us to just pick up and start talking to each other again...it was like he'd never been gone at all. We spent a lot of time together while he was here, too, and I realized very soon that I'd fallen for this guy that I'd known for over eighteen months a long time ago...long time being way before he'd left. Funny that, since he told me as I sat there thinking about it pretty much the same thing about his feelings for me.

Things don't always work out, though. We said our goodbyes in July of 2004, and that's fine by me. I'm a better, stronger, healthier me for all it's worth, and I wouldn't have that change for the world...besides, there will be a time when it all does work out for the best. I'm just biding my time until that day comes and I find my very own Prince Charming. :-)