by Georgia Grace

Created on: June 06, 2008   Last Updated: December 29, 2009

I knew the man I was going to marry for 10 years before actually meeting him. The thought of fate being involved doesn't really register with me. I keep chalking it up to coincidence and timing, but, the circumstances are magical to me. I feel embarrassed how we met, even though our story is unique.

A friend of mine really turned me off to Internet dating. It's not only dangerous, it also allows people to have a false sense of security. E-mailing and IMing enable us to open up more, which, in turn, creates this security. Internet dating is so mentally personal. I too often hear of liars and criminals using the Internet as a tactic to get a victim. I also feel that premature promiscuity is often a side effect of this wistful kind of relationship.

The Internet started gaining popularity when I was in junior high school. I guess we did the same things that teens are doing now. Going into chat rooms and speaking to people via instant message. When I was about 13 I started talking to Dave from Virginia. We immediately hit it off. A chance meeting in a chat room led to things that still seem impossible. Dave and I almost immediately became infatuated with one another. Locking ourselves in our rooms and talking and emailing online for hours a day. We exchanged pictures and learned everything there was about one another.

I recall being about 14 and having my mom catch me online after midnight, talking to Dave. The Internet was disconnected. It felt like the end of the world. Dave had a similar experience, his mom was concerned he was spending way too much time online.

Over the next 10 years, we were always part of each others lives in some way. We went through bouts of obsession with each other, and bouts of not talking for extended periods of time. He was always in the back of my mind. For years we had felt we were made for each other and we would get married one day. We grew apart sometimes, still having never met. We somehow always found each other.

In the summer of 2006, I was in a dead end relationship that I knew wouldn't last. I was messing around on Myspace one evening and looked Dave up. He had a profile too! I send a quick note, something like "Jeez, everyone has damn Myspace". Religiously, I checked to see if he had responded, and only a few days passed until he did. We casually updated each other on our lives. He too was in a relationship that wasn't satisfying. We quickly fell back into our old routine of e-mailing all the time. Texting had become popular,

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