It's Just Another Silly Love Story

 

I joined the Internet in 1994 through my friend, Scott.  I loved the interaction with people all around the world and found a great channel to chat on Internet Relay Chat (IRC): #41plus.  I took on the nick of pollyanna and became an Internet geek of sorts.  I met lots of online friends in person at IRC Parties and when I would travel across the U.S. during summers.

I had become special friends with a man in Kentucky and spent a year in that long distance relationship.   When that fell apart, I vowed to never do the long distance relationship thang again.  But alas, the majority of my friendships were online, it was inevitable I would meet someone else who would become important.   

    My good friend, Besthippi (Steph), introduced me to nolte (Doug), who lived in Pennsylvania.  So okay, what's a few thousand miles?  I had been a single parent for the past 20some years and wasn't eager to jump into anything permanent.  Hmmm...or was I?

Doug was different than some of the other men I had met online.  No games.  No BS.  Just Doug, take him or leave him.  The first time we met face-to-face was in 1996.  In 1997 I took a sabbatical in order to figure out this relationship...and (the academic reason) how to teach Public Speaking online and went back to Pittsburgh, PA for a year.  

What fun we had!  I was able to travel to new places and meet new old online friends.  I had traveled the south the years before and now I was able to travel more north, including Canada and Niagara Falls.  And then it was time to go home in order to write my research (I had been teaching an online class for the year) and finish out the academic year.  I returned in the summer and we set about plans for Doug to move to Oregon.  I always said that he followed me home so I had to keep him.  He arrived Halloween 1998.  We were perfectly happy to remain unmarried but it changed.  We wanted to make it official.

 We set our wedding for Saturday, July 10, 1999.  We wanted to be married outside in the garden somewhere.  I wanted daisies in my hair and bare feet.  My hippie dream back in the 1960s.  We decided to get married at Cathedral Park in north Portland, under the St Johns Bridge, but had to change the date because the Hood to Coast bike ride always stops at Cathedral Park.  With our family around us and a few special friends, we were married.  Friday, July 9, 1999.

There's really nothing special about our love story, except it is our love story.   We were pioneers in that we met online and married...and still together celebrating our 20th anniversary of marriage.  We are still having fun but it seems it is "older people" fun.  He still makes me laugh.  I still get him out and about on spontaneous whims.  And life is good.

And so it goes
peace~~~