some
of you know, on AOL in 1996. He was living in England at the time and
I was living in Tennessee. Where we were living is what initially made
us interesting to each other -- I had always been fascinated with Europe
and he wanted to know more about American life. Thus began a beautiful
and longlasting friendship, and nothing more for several years. We chatted
and emailed for a year and then exchanged addresses and began writing
letters back and forth. We could talk about anything and everything, and
did so on pretty much a daily basis. We both loved sending and receiving
cards and letters, so I have a box full of letters and cards from our
years of correspondence. In December of 1998, Steve got his work visa approved
and moved to Chicago, Illinois. The following summer we finally arranged
our first "in person" meeting. It was pretty magical, even though
that sounds kinda cheesy. He was already one of my best friends and we
knew everything there was to know about each other -- and now we were
actually in the same room on the same continent. It was an overwhelming
feeling, and one that ultimately led us to fall in love :)
To quote a movie line, "when you realize you want to spend the
rest of your life with somebody, you want the rest of your life to start
as soon as possible" (Harry from "When
Harry Met Sally") ......