If you go to many SF conventions as I do, some faces become familiar. You may not know the name and you may never have struck up a conversation with that person, but you come to recognize them. You feel that since you are both at an SF con, you must have something in common. For a few years in the early Nineties I had been spotting a tall, pretty woman at cons. She had brown hair and eyes and wore glasses. However, we never had one of those spontaneous conversations that you experience at these events, and no one had ever introduced us, although there were many fans who knew us both.

At the 1994 Worldcon in Winnipeg, I spotted her again at one of the room parties. Then I visited a dance the night of the Hugo Awards, where I spotted her sitting by herself.  Since it's reasonable to assume that a woman in that position wants someone to ask her to dance, I went up to her and asked. She accepted. After the first dance, she displayed no inclination to return to her seat, which I found unusual. She was willing to stay on the dance floor so long as the music was agreeable. She was one of the few dance partners I'd ever had who could match my stamina.

When we did sit down, I asked her if she wanted a drink. She replied that she would like a rum and coke. I bought her one and got a beer for myself. Then we started talking to each other. I found out that her name was Anita Williams and that she lived in Nashville, Tennessee. At the time I lived in Jackson, Mississippi, so it was not surprising that our convention attendance had overlapped. We stayed at the dance for about an hour or two.

Then we started visiting the room parties. After a while, I started to fade. When I said good-night, for one of the few times in my life, I obeyed an impulse and kissed her.  Anita did not slap me, or otherwise act as if I had offended her. The following night I saw her at the Masquerade. Again Anita was alone. I went up to her and asked her to write down her address in my address book. Anita complied.

After the Worldcon, we began corresponding. We met at a convention six months later and took up where we left off. We continued to see each other at conventions, started going to certain conventions just to see each other, and eventually started to arrange meetings without the excuse of a convention. When I came to Nashville on a business trip in 1996, I proposed. Finally, in 1997, I moved to Nashville to marry Anita, and we are quite happy.