The Daily Times

I’ve been seeing a man for the past 12 months.

He’s gorgeous. Dark blonde and eyes that you can get lost in. A smile that lights up the room. When he lets it out. He can be a little brooding.

And Monday through Friday, he’s greeted me every morning. Sometimes, he was the highlight of my day.

He was the strong, silent type. But with just a look, I could find solace despite whatever stresses were around.

I knew the romance couldn’t last but I was determined to hang on as long as I could. He wasn’t going anywhere, and I didn’t plan on ditching him.

Enter BFG. With one swift move, he ended my romance. He took away my happy place as easily as a needle pops a balloon.

He took my calendar down.

For 12 months, I’d enjoyed looking at Jensen Ackles’ lovely face. More accurately, I’d enjoyed Dean Winchester from the show “Supernatural” for 12 months.

That excerpt is from a column that originally ran Jan. 15 of this year. It detailed the end of my “office romance” as we put it. My desk area wasn’t nearly as much fun without that calendar, but I received a 2012 calendar within a couple of weeks.

The column garnered a few laughs among friends and was even passed around to some other “Supernatural” fangirls thanks to the power of Facebook and Twitter.

But, like it does, time went on and I forgot about the column. At least I’d forgotten about it until a couple of weeks ago when I received an email from a reader and fellow “Dean girl” as we like to say. Somehow, she had a connection to the bodyguard of Ackles and costar Jared Padalecki. He’d gotten a kick out of the column and asked if it would be OK to send me something from Ackles.

When I got her email detailing this, to say I almost hyperventilated is an understatement. Daily Times intern Katie Forrester and I both got overly excited, and I’m fairly certain we squealed like 12-year-olds at a Justin Bieber concert.

It was one of the coolest moments of my career so far, if not at the top of the list. It went beyond simply getting something from a celebrity I love, though.

Longtime readers know that few things are off-limits in my columns, whether I’m commenting on the news of the day or the antics of friends, who normally are not identified by name. I come up with monikers like BFF, HB, BFG, etc. They know who they are, but their identities aren’t obvious to everyone else.

But this went beyond what I’d done before. When writing a feature about a musical artist coming to town, the articles are probably read by marketing or public relations representatives, but it’s doubtful that the actual performer ever glances at it. With this, I was assured that Ackles would read it, which completely blew my mind. I re-read the column to make sure that I hadn’t said anything too embarrassing or stalkerish. I was assured in a later email that Ackles did, in fact, appreciate the column.

But beyond that, this whole thing created a mini community for me. Katie and I bonded even more through our shared excitement. I shared some good laughs with the reader that started it all. And I had the knowledge that my column written in the little town of Maryville had managed to make an impact on some folks who have seen it all and are no strangers to fans, journalists or even those who combine the worlds.

The waiting for the package to arrive was torture. After a few days, I began checking the mail daily, all the while pondering what could be coming. My money was on an autographed photo, but we had fun discussing the possibilities. My favorite was a life-size cutout of Jensen Ackles himself.

The package finally came this week, and it was, indeed, an autographed picture. And it was, in fact, awesome.

I’ve always said it’s the little things that can make life fun. But sometimes, the big things rock just as much.

Amanda Greever can be reached at 981-1161 or (amanda.greever@thedailytimes.com) Follow her on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com _editor.