Shroom: My Story

Shroom was a unique and very private man. The story I will share with you is mine and one that I feel comfortable sharing with you. He was such a clandestine individual that most who knew him didn’t really know him, as a person. He was intelligent, worldly and well diverse in most subjects. The story of the man before we came to know him is one I will keep close to my heart, but here’s what I will share:

Shroom happened into the Tuesday night show years ago, long before Streamate. The association was CamZ. It was a free for all and could have as many as 500 viewers in one show. A handful of those were worth talking to, and that is how I came to know Shroom, Bubba, Outlaw, Marc/c and a few others who have come and gone since then. Shroom immediately fit in and found his place in our sarcastic brotherhood.

Within the first month of meeting Shroom, we were traveling to NYC where a bar meet was set up with several other Dreamnet ladies. He took the train from Philly to Greenwich Village to meet us, as did Hedo. Incidentally, those two found me on or around the same day. Both, of which, made the trek to NYC shortly there after to meet us.

He was a very welcoming fella;one I planned on keeping around for years to come. After the bar meet he made his way back to Philly and Devil and I drove to Maryland to stay with Aimeelynn for a few days, before stopping in Philly to explore the city. Shroom agreed to be our tour guide.

Once we were home we all fell back into our routines and Shroom would forever be a part of my world. As the weeks turned into months and then years, I learned his story. It made me understand him better and be more forgiving of the eccentric man, we all called “Shroom”. He was witty. He was uplifting. He was sharp with a dry sense of humor. He was a private person and the more questions asked, the more closed he would be. However, he had no ill feelings towards the intrusion, he just wasn’t one that would share unless you were his closest confidant. If he called you friend, he was yours for life. He had strong beliefs and opinions, but wouldn’t force them upon you; that is not to say he wouldn’t talk non-stop on the subject at hand, until there was nothing more to say.

Once I knew him, I realized that his trip to Philly was one of rarity and odd form because he never took weekend trips to NYC and was not one of spontaneity, especially to meet a bunch of randoms he met in a porn chat room. So, to say that our friendship was a chance meeting, would be an understatement.

Over the last few years he has been missed from the weekly chats, but I would often tell him that he was the subject of conversations. “Last night Cliff said, ‘in the words of Shroom, we are concentrating'”, “Outlaw asked me if you were still in charge of the towel disposals”, or “Marc/c is heading up the clean up crew and they all want you to know you would be proud”. He got a chuckle out of the weekly chat and the community we allowed him to be a part of. No matter what his story was outside of the online world, we enhanced his evenings and he was very thankful to have known you all.

That is my story of Shroom.