I'm a fan because of the person Jessica is. I remeber exactly what made me a fan. I was diagnosed at age 17 with limb girdle muscular dystrophy. Unfourtantly it wasn't until 2 months into my senior year. When I was a sophmore I had to take a tumbling class for a gym credit. Well needless to say I couldn't do much. At that time they didn't know why. They thought that I suffered from my knee caps sliding out of my femer bone. So as I was sitting out of class one day getting harassed by my teacher, I was reading this article in the march 2000 issue of Teen People magazines celeb diary section titled "Sex Can Wait" about Jessica . As I was reading I came to this part in the article that stated:

"Then there was the group of girls in junior high school who just despised me for what I stood for. They egged my house. They keyed my car. They spread a rumor that I was a lesbian, and it went from school district to school district. They wrote vicious insults in shaving cream on the sidewalk in front of our house, which left a mark you could never totally erase. It was awful. Thankfully, I managed to get through that tiem with the support of family, friends, and teachers."

I remeber sitting there thinking oh my god that same thing happend to me. Only difference was it wasn't because of my beliefs it was because I was different and didn't know why at that time. The summer in between my 8th grade and freshmen year my house was trashed and insults were written about me in shaving cream. I thought wow if that can happen to someone as beautiful and talented as Jessica and she just kept pushing on, then I could do the same thing. She was a real person just like me and I totally admired her for that. Knowing that someone that famous had been through the same things as me just made me feel connected to her. Ever since then her music has helped me get through some difficult times in my life. The song "You don't have to let go" even though written about her dad, is the song that I dedicated to my mom on my wedding day. If not for my mom I wouldn't be the person I am today and might not be here if not for her support threw all those difficult times in school.

So thanks Jessica for giving me someone to look up to all these years. I really appriciate it. In a way if not for you and your music I wouldn't be the strong person I am today!