I had already been a regular chatter and the Star Trek chatlines, and had made many friends there. The friendly atmosphere there is great...everyone will to help and willing to answer the many questions I had. They had taught me a lot of the things that I could do with my computer (something I will never completely know).
I was chatting in the lounge when all of the sudden I got a whisper from a new person I had only seen there a couple of times before, and only recently. His name was Riker36m. I didn't know why the 36m, but later I was to find out that was his age and sex. He had decided to do that with his name because of all the age/sex checks.
I was a little leary about answering his whisper because of things that happened to me on chatlines before, but I thought what harm could it do, it was only a whisper box? That was the wisest decision I have made in my life...that was the turning point for me for a happier life, only I didn't know it yet!
We started talking and the hours flew by. We, of course, had Star Trek in common, and also we lived in the same state. That was something new, because you meet so many people from so many place in the Lounge, but we lived about 250 miles away from each other.
We found out both of us had ICQ, so that is where we began to meet. The time always seemed to pass by so quickly. The more we talked, the more we found out what we had in common. Riker had said that he would come online the next night to "see" me and I agreed to meet him...but would he really?
The next night at the specified time, he was there. I was so glad to see him. We talked more and he helped me so much. He became my friend. We had found out that we were both going through bad relationships, and I guess that was the basis of our friendship. We comforted each other, and found that we both were going through the same sort of thing, and understood each other very well.
He was not going to be online on Saturday, because he was going to go to Michigan Adventure with some people from work, so we decided to meet on Sunday. In the meantime though, I had gotten sick and went into the hospital, with no way of getting ahold of him. I thought that he was really going to think I was rude, and didn't like him if I didn't show up when we had planned.
Well on Sunday, I called my daughter on the phone from the hospital and told her to go online. Riker36m was there. She explained who she was, and I told her to ask him if I could call him on the phone. The answer was yes! So that was our first phone call. I was so nervous, I almost hung up. If he wouldn't have been expecting the call, I know I would have hung up several times before I had the nerve to talk to him on the phone.
I told him that I was leaving home when I got out of the hospital and moving to my sister's and that I wouldn't be able to talk to him online any more, because they didn't have a computer that I could use. We discovered that my sister only lives 90 miles away from him. So we decided to meet face to face on the next Saturday.
After getting out of the hospital, we talked all that week about our plans to meet. We told each other about what we looked like, and even though I had lost 50lbs, I was still heavy, and wanted to let him know. He said he had already guessed that, and with a little coaxing revealed what he thought I weighed (something that I won't reveal here). He guess within 5 lbs of my weight. I thought that was amazing without ever seeing me.
As the days went by, even though I was busy packing, we found time to talk on ICQ. I was getting real excited and eager to meet him. I was also anxious about it. We hadn't exchange pictures of one another, I never even thought of it. So it was truly a blind date.
The time was getting closer and closer. When I arrived in Big Rapids, there was a letter waiting for me from Riker. There was a bookmark with a friendship poem and a penny with a heart cut into it. I thought that was sweet!
I called him that night, and we talked and made final arrangements. He was going to wear a tie with the StarShip Enterprise on it. I couldn't wait until the next evening. I was excited and scared. I don't know why, we were only friends at this point, at least that was all we admitted to, so why was I so concerned about making a good impression? If we were just friends, then it wouldn't matter. I was beginning to wonder about this, maybe there was just a little more than just plain friendship.
My family thought I was crazy because of the the weird people there are on the internet, but I knew. I had this gut feeling that everything would be ok. I knew that Riker36m was a good person.
The big day finally came. It to be at 4:30, now I had to wait the whole day!!!!!!! I started getting ready early, and I was ready to go at 3:00... Got to Big Boy Restaurant, and I could see someone looking for someone, but their back was to me, and when he turned around I saw him for the first time. It was like meeting an old friend. I was glad to see him.
We were both nervous at first, but we found, even then, that we had some things in common. We ate dinner, and then decided to go and sit at a park, next to a little stream, and there is when we relaxed with each other...and that was the start of our "new" relationship. He was real!!!!!! No longer someone from the internet. Someone I could touch, and see the expression on their face. He was the most wonderful man I had ever met, and the more I found out about him, the more I realized this.
He stayed in a hotel over night, and then we had breakfast at Big Boy's and spend the day talking and shopping and went to the parks by the river, and discovered we both loved nature and being outside.
The most anxiety to be felt by me was the next day. I was wondering if he was going to call. I was wondering if he felt the same way. Was he as interested in me as I was in him? Monday seemed so long, but he did finally call!!!! And then I knew...
After that we talked on the phone almost daily, and visited almost every week-end. I knew I was falling in love with him. I accidently blurted over the phone on day, and was in a panic. What if I turned him away? But I didn't, and he told me he loved me the next weekend. There is so much we have in common, we think so much alike, and have so many things that are the same...even our favorite color is the same! He is my Imzadi. That is really the only word to use that describes the feeling we have for each other.
On November 7th, 1998, we began our lives together, and it has been fantastic. I truly love him, and I know he loves me. It feels so good to be loved like this. I am a very lucky woman.