A New Beginning

"He seems nice, I think I'll send him an email."

People are amused when I tell them that I met my British husband on the internet. It was April 1998, I'd just gotten my first PC and I was looking for people to email.   Surfing around, I stumbled upon a pen pal website and as I scrolled through the hundreds of names, I saw his entry. He looked like a nice chap, so I clicked on his name (insert dramatic music here). He'd written something funny, although I can't remember what it was now -- ha, maybe it wasn't that funny after all! 

He said that he was afraid of spiders and I thought, "Well he must be harmless!" So I sent him an email and to my surprise he actually wrote back. Over the course of several months, the emails turned to phone calls which eventually turned into visits.

Oh, that first visit was something. I decided it would be best for him to visit me in New Jersey, rather than me visiting him in England. I figured if he turned out to be an ax murderer then at least I'd be on my home turf! But did I make it easy for him? Oh no. His visit happened at Thanksgiving, where not only did we meet for the first time, but he also met my entire family all at once. Nothing like making his first trip to the States a challenge, eh! Well that didn't scare him off, so he really must have thought I was worth it.

I learned that love can strike unexpectedly. But more importantly, I learned that he wasn't an ax murderer.

Years later, I always joke that I meant to click on the name of the guy who was in the list below him. Imagine if that had happened! I wonder where I'd be? Just goes to show you, when surfing the web, be careful what you click on!