Friend's wedding, Oct. '97 (Jeckyl and Hyde) Camping, summer '95
I first got online in August of 1997. I was living with my girlfriend of that time, but wasn't thrilled about the whole arrangement. She was insistant on getting a computer for the internet, and me, for my upcoming CGA studies. Not that I ever got that far, but that's another story. I didn't use the internet much at first, for which I was harassed mercilessly. She pushed me to use it for more than just surfing, hinting heavily for me to try chatting.
I just told her about how silly the idea of chatting was. Sitting there for hours on end, just conversing with people that you didn't even know. One day after she left for work, I popped my head in at AOL chat and it turned out that I liked it. I started going there regularly for about two weeks, before jumping to Yahoo chat. Once there, I kinda roamed from room to room to try to find a place where I would fit in. I guess a place where I could talk freely and be myself. I ended up setting into the Current Events room for a while, but something happened that made me feel less than welcome. I made a light comment that was taken to heart and I left, not to return for a couple of months afterwards. I was wandering again, but not for long. On my travels, I stopped in a Music room to see what it was like in there, but I realized quickly that that was a mistake.
As luck would have it, someone else in the room agreed with me and we ended up starting to talk. She asked me back to the room that she normally chatted in, and I took her up on her offer. I met a lot of pretty cool and decent people there. I still had my jaunts to other rooms, just to see what was there, but Books and Literature was kinda like the new hangout for me. I met some pretty cool people on my brief jaunts, but I've since lost touch with most of them. Not all, but most. Anyways, I ended up going to B&L almost every day and meeting with certain people. Mostly, Dragonfly-29, the one who I met in Music. Well I won't go into details about everything since then. If you're a reg from B&L, then you'll probably know some of it already. There were some pretty good ups and some really horrendous downs, but we got through it all. I ended up going to visit dragonfly in April and then again in July. Well, let's just say that whatever doubts either one of us may have had, aren't around anymore.
It isn't cyber or anything like that, it's real. She made a proposal of marriage to me in March, but I don't think she really meant it. No no, that's not right at all. She meant it, but she doubted that it would really happen. Well, now it is. If it weren't for a few minor details, we'd be married right now. The proposal is real now, and there are no doubts that it'll happen. Immigration is a big problem, but it's being dealt with. We figure that it'll be six months at the latest before we're married and living together. Odd. I never went online to find a wife. I never went online to make friends. I just did it to pass time. People who don't go online don't understand how it all happens. You talk to people, then you start to see the same people again and again. Before you know it, you're laughing and joking around with these people the same way as if you'd known them your whole life. Sometimes, you talk personally with these people. You get to be close and become actual "friends" with them. Some people become more than friends. I know of other people who actually met online and went from "friends" to married couples. I thought it was crazy at first, but now I know better. I met a woman in a music room, in a chat place, on a computer, and I love her more than I thought was possible. There's problems with the distance between us, but that's all being dealt with. It's hard to fall asleep every night, knowing that the one you love and want to be with is sleeping alone as well. And 1600 miles away.
Dragonfly's page about how we met
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