In my 20s, I felt like I was on a roller coaster that I will never forget. It all started for real, when I was 19 years old; I had ventured out on my own and decided it would be a great idea to live in a cramped and dirty apartment the size of a cardboard box. I was anxious and hopeful for whatever was coming my way. By the time I turned 29 my hopes were dissipated and, like the aforementioned apartment that I called hope, I was looking to sit down, but I knew it would be easier said than done. The prosaic dating scene I had experienced had become stale, and although I had never considered myself the married type, the idea of ​​marriage suddenly began to consume all my thoughts and my daily life.

For months, my 11-year-old best friend had started annoying, or as she put it, “cheering” me on, to join an online dating service; To say the least, it was the last form of the dating scene that I ever wanted to try. Being trapped by my family traditions and of course having my own ego as it was, meeting men face to face seemed like the much more acceptable form of the dating scene to which I was much more adapted; Also, with online dating, I could only imagine the rejected ones, weirdos, or hermits sitting in front of their computer in a smoky room, possibly the basement of their mothers’ houses on the fringes of society who couldn’t have a quote otherwise and this idea. It scared me so much, I swore I would avoid it at all costs. Yet here I am with my best friend’s tireless attempts to play matchmaker, giving in to her pleas and joining an online dating site.

After going through the first couple of profiles and sending a few emails back and forth with some of what I might consider the least boring men, I start to feel miserable; Either the online conversation I was involved in with them wasn’t stimulating enough to hold my attention or they just weren’t smart enough to be funny. This handful of men, whom I found a bit interesting, immediately began pressuring me for an in-person meeting, to which I politely declined; It left me feeling a little nervous.

A month or two passed and I still hadn’t found a man who could really pique my interest for longer than the initial conversation and I was ready to give up, but I decided to take a proactive approach to this less than pleasant online dating experience. I eagerly searched and reviewed various profiles that I felt met my specific criteria for the type of man I was looking for; About 5 pages into my search, my eyes locked onto a profile and I instantly released my index finger, the one that had been glued to the “next” key on my keyboard, and the screen squeaked to a halt. He was very cute, with piercing brown eyes, eyes that I knew I could spend hours looking at him, and in a red sweater he floated off the screen and ran in circles around and into my heart; I was mesmerized. I read his profile quickly but thoroughly and found it full of clever sarcasm throughout the text and my heart was racing. Dare I ask myself this question? Had I really found my match on this disgusting dating site? The only way to find out was to contact him by email.

I frantically but movingly emailed him and waited for his response; he did not take long to respond. I read with enthusiasm that he had visited my online profile several times before receiving my email and that he was really interested in chatting with me on Yahoo Messenger; I was beyond excited, but waited at least an hour before even replying because I didn’t want to appear too eager, even though I was extremely eager, when suddenly his yellow smiley face lit up on my computer screen on the dating site. I wanted to know more about the man in the red sweater with piercing brown eyes. We started chatting and we all exchanged

the mundane but required bio information one makes when meeting a potential love interest. Before long, I put my interview as questions into overdrive; and surprisingly, the journey continued. His intelligent instincts and quick wit swooped down on the conversation like an eagle swooping down on its prey; I was out of my mind with excitement. With no ammunition in my holster, I put down my weapons and surrendered to all doubts and means; I decided that I would give this man and the situation a chance to become real.

After a while, the man in the red sweater asked me for my phone number; He was very inclined to give in, but thought it would be better to wait a little longer. A few hours after convincing him, I gave him my number; I spent what seemed like several tense minutes waiting for the call. I started wondering, “What would the mystery man sound like?” I picked up the phone and heard a pleasant voice on the other end of the line; her voice was so soft that I felt immediately comfortable, feeling like we talked on the phone like this every day. We talk as if we have known each other for years. He was the same charming man she had met online and chatted with via instant messenger during all those lonely nights. And now we finally touch base in the real world; of type. The big test would be when we met in person; the terrifying and exciting moment of being face to face.

And then it happened! A few weeks of pleasant phone conversations, along with instant messaging, ended abruptly when he asked the dreaded question, “Would you like to meet us in person?” “We have a great thing, why would you want to compromise that?” I managed to utter sarcastically in response to her question that stopped. “We need to take this to the next level, plus I want to meet you in person,” he said. Maybe he’s right, I thought. Maybe we should go ahead and stop deluding ourselves about having an online relationship without even meeting face to face. After all, it is the logical next step to take.

The next day, he booked a flight to visit me for a week; I know it’s a pretty big step, but we were clearly ready for this step. Using his photograph and flight number as a guide, I picked him up from the airport; having never seen him in person before, I watched nearly every man who came in from the door number with the anticipation that it might be him. A few moments passed when suddenly, a tall man with brown eyes appeared at the door; wearing the same red sweater that caught my eye so many months ago. He saw me right away and got into the car with a friendly greeting. We drove to my house in an almost uncomfortable silence that we could both clearly feel; “What happened to the easy conversation we had on the phone?” I thought silently to myself. It felt like a first date and I wasn’t sure if I liked her both in person and online.

When we finally got to my house, he left his bags in the corner of the room and sat on my couch. This was getting more awkward, but slowly, we started talking to each other and the wall of silence collapsed very quickly. He said all the right things to make me fall in love with him again, but this time, it wasn’t just that love for the computer that many easily fell in love with; this was real.

I knew he was the man I wanted to be with for the rest of my life. Not long after my visit with him in his home state of Maryland, he and I immediately made plans for him to move in with me; people thought we were crazy, but when you know it, you know it! Shortly after moving in, he asked to hold my hand in marriage and I said yes. We have been married for 8 years and he is still the man of my dreams.