Meeting Amber Benson

Day 1 -

I finally get to say it...I MET AMBER!!!! I'm not even sure if I remember it. I do remember getting up the table and talking to Nicholas. I think all I said was my name and then spelled it for him. Then, there was Amber. She smiled at me and signed our pictures. Paul, my husband, gave her a Squadron Coin (He is in the Air Force) from the place where he works. She looked it over as Paul explained what the coin was and stood for. She saw on the back of the coin the state of North Carolina and asked if we had come all the way from North Carolina? Paul answered her, being that I was too tongue-tied in her presence. I did manage to get out the message from Little Willow, and she said that was sweet. I wanted to add that she was the sole reason for our trip to Orlando, but could not force the words past my shyness. After moving away from the table with a big smile, I gathered myself and took pictures of Amber and Nicholas meeting the other fans.

About 1.30 or so, Coax, Beetman himself, and I joined the unofficial line for the 4 pm signing with Amber and Nicholas. Thus, began our over 2-hour wait. Unfortunately I'm not much of a talker, so I'm sure I appeared as very unfriendly (I'm not - just shy). Conversations were taking place all around me about Buffy, but I was too shy to interject any of my views. I did like hearing all the positive comments on the show. After what seemed like an eternity, 4 pm rolled around, but Amber and Nicholas didn't arrive until about 4.15. I was fine until they arrived, then my nerves set in and once again totally timid Teresa could not get her tongue and brain to work together correctly. Since I did not have anything else for them to sign, I asked them to sign the MegaCon booklet, which they both did happily. Amber remembered me from the first signing!!!! I couldnt believe it! (Granted it was only about 3 hours prior to this signing) I was so excited!!! She has seen hundreds of people since she saw me and she remembered! For the life of me I cant remember what happened other than being rushed through the line. After I moved away from the table, I immediately looked for Coax. I found him. He was sitting on the floor about 15 feet away. I believe he did a better than I when it came to talking to Amber.

I stuck around until the end. I watched Amber laugh, smile and greet everyone. She is so incredible! I took nearly 2 ½ rolls of film of her. I was disappointed that I couldnt have my picture make with her, but maybe my luck will change tomorrow.

Day 2 -

Well, I think Ive come down from my Amber high, but only slightly, to share my experience at MegaCon. Today we arrived at the convention center about 9.15am and the doors werent scheduled to open until 10am. We stood for the next 45 minutes watching vendors and guests (like June Lockheart from TVs Lost In Space) enter Hall C. Amber and Nicholas were scheduled to begin signing an hour earlier than yesterday. Finally, at 10am we were allowed in and Paul and I raced over to the WB area to get our place in line to see Amber again.

While we were waiting in line, I saw Coax and his girlfriend come in. As 11 o'clock approached, everyone who had been sitting in line, stood up and got ready for the main event. I was so nervous. I was about to meet Amber again. All I could do was roll and unroll a letter I had written to her the night before. Paul told me to relax, but I couldn't. I kept running what I wanted to say to her over and over again through my mind. Well, I finally got my turn with Nicholas. I handed him my picture and told him my name. He asked me how to spell it. When I told him, he said, "I kinda get confused because my girlfriends name is Tressa with 2 S's" (or something to that effect) He was such a doll. When I got to Amber, I asked her to sign some Amberholic buttons we had printed out on labels to wear at the convention. She was not sure where to sign and I told her anywhere,it didn't matter. She signed one. As I handed her the letter I had written I said, "I knew I would get all tongue-tied so I wrote it down." She took the letter and with a awww. I got the greatest gift; an Amber Hug! I was elated!! I waited around to see Coax talk to Amber. She gave him a hug too! This was turning out to be a wonderful day! I was on Cloud 9!!! I could have left right then and been happy forever.

About 12 o'clock I got in line for the 2 o'clock signing. I wasn't the only one, but the crowd was thinning as the day wore on. Those 2 hours didn't go as slowly as yesterday, but my nerves were working overtime! As 2 pm got closer, I began rehearsing what I wanted to say to Amber. I knew she was really tired and I just wanted to thank her for coming to the convention. During my wait, I was able to pick up a neat pic of Amber and Nicholas that had been taken the night before. I decided this was the last thing I would ask them to sign. One more time, I said as I went up to Nicholas, then asked him to sign the picture to Paul & Teresa. Then, as I was getting closer to Amber, I watched her and Paul talk. She decided to change the color of pen she was using so that it would show up better on his picture. As I slid the picture I had in front of her, she looked up at me and said, I read your letter. You could have knocked me over with a feather! I never in my life dreamed that she would have had the time to read it in the short time between signings. She went on to say, Thats awesome! She was very encouraging with my school plans and she gave me another hug!!! I couldn't believe it!! I was so happy!! When she realized that she was signing the picture to Paul & Teresa she looked up to Paul and said, "You're the Paul!" (Im sorry; it gets a little fuzzy here...darn nerves!) Amber went on to say that it was great that I had a guy that supported me 110% and looking to Paul she added, "You are lucky." I looked at her and said, "No, Im the lucky one." Amber signed my picture and put good luck with school on it. She then told me, "You'll do fine." Referring to school. After I moved away, I stuck around and watched Amber and Nicholas greet fans and sign. They were very generous with the fans. I was glad I stuck around until they had to leave. I got my picture made standing between Amber and Nicholas. All I could say as I walked away was "Thank you." Amber looked at me, smiled and rubbed my arm as if she knew I wanted to say more, but was locked behind my shyness.