Having met many people online, there are two very special people in my life. One person is Melanie and the other is my wife, Linda. I met Mel in a game room one night, and chatted a bit while playing. Adding our names to each other's buddy list, our friendship grew, and before long we got to know personal information about each other. Mel knew I was going through a marriage separation, and divorce was imminent.
One night I signed on and a message popped up from Mel. "Don't you think you ought to get back into the dating scene? She became more relentless each time I signed on. Another night I signed on, and there was Mel popping in again, "We're going shopping tonight!" "Shopping for what?", I asked. "We're going to find you a woman.", came her reply.
She would send me ads out of the personals everytime I would sign online. "How's this one sound?" Ad after ad, night after night, Mel remained relentless in her quest to find me a woman, and ad after ad, nothing suited me. I knew she was getting desperate when one night she started sending me ads for Russian women wanting to come to the United States.
Soon after her Russian shopping trip, she popped in one night. "Hey, I found someone for you! She's lives in the same city as you, and she even sews!" After reading the ad, I checked AOL's member section. Seeing she was online, I sent her an instant message. Receiving my message, we started chatting.
Meanwhile, Mel was impatiently waiting in Virginia for my reply. "Well, what do you think? Why don't you IM her? She's online now!" She just about fell out of her chair when I told her we were already chatting. "What? You IM'd her? Really? Wow! What'd she say? She sound OK? Really? WOW!"
We learned that during the time Mel was prodding me, Linda's daughter was prodding her to place her ad in the personals. Our chats continued online, and before long progressed to phone calls.
A few weeks after we met online, we decided to meet for lunch. I walked into the store where she worked as a seamstress carrying a single pink rose. Lunch went well, and she loved the rose. Dating led to more lunches, and dinners. We had a blast at an area drive-in, even though the movie was way below par.
In 1999, we drove to visit my family in New Jersey for Christmas. After our return to North Carolina, Mel had a new set of questions, "When are you going to ask her? What are you waiting for? Don't let her get away!" Learning we were flying out to Arizona for my Godchild's Christening, she asked, "When's the wedding? Can I buy a new dress yet?"
After living together for awhile, we moved to Arizona in 2001 and married in March, 2002. Unfortunately, Mel and Chris could not make the trip to Arizona for the wedding, but we knew they were with us just the same. As we celebrated our first anniversary this past March, I thought back to those shopping trips and knew I got the bargain of my life.
I found a woman who tries her best to understand me. She has become my best friend in many ways. We have learned each other's ways and can pick up on certain things when something is amiss. She can see when something is bothering me, as I can her. When one of us hurts, so does the other. When one is happy, it is contageous. We can crawl into bed dog tired, and then lay there laughing for the next hour at something that happened that day. Her touch is special. Waking up in the middle of the night, and finding her hand in mine, is a reassurance of our love for each other.
Someday we hope to meet Mel and Chris in person. I would love to have a nice dinner with the one I love and the one who helped me find my love.
