That’s where after awhile I met a user named Kattikawn. I had constantly been near the top poster on this board and I guess everyone knew me after awhile. It was a nice change from reality. I got involved in an online Role Playing Game where different people played along as different characters. Eventually through meeting more people, Kattikawn took interest in our RPG and joined in on conversations.I immediately took a liking to her. I invited her to join and we talked on the boards through questions and such. Nothing major.

Then about a year and a half ago I had my first ever chat online. I was always against chats and thought they were a waste of time, but for some reason I thought I’d try since I knew most of the people I was talking to. Kattikawn was one of the people in the first chat I ever had and we seemed to have fun talking whenever we could. Even after everyone left, we stayed on and talked through the night. I was becoming an addict to this. Seems she was from the Southern States and we had a lot in common. We just treated these chats as friendly conversation, but eventually I knew it was more.

We see med to hit it off and laughed together and told each other a lot through The AOL Instant Messenger Service. Things were going great and I teasingly asked if she would want to be my girlfriend. Just trying to play it safe and not expecting much, she agreed right away. I was so happy at the prospects.

Months together went on and we constantly talked online. Eventually we called and I have to say I stuck my foot in my mouth the first phone call, but every one after that have gone wonderful and our only dread is that we can’t talk all night. Long distant phone bills aren’t nice to rack up. We talked about the situations we were in and how it’d be nice to visit or be together. I think most of the time we were just lonely for company and anything was better than what was going on back home.

I still remember the first time I told her I loved her. Knowing the situation, she probably didn’t think I was totally serious, but she did respond back with the same message of I love you too. I didn’t know if I should totally get into this relationship or just pull back and keep it strictly friends. But I kept wanting more and my love for her grew more and more each passing day.

Eventually we decided that we should meet. I told her I’d go down to visit her and later on in the year, I booked my flight and got a hotel. She was in college, so we decided the January break was a good time to visit, since it’s warmer down there and prices are cheaper for vacations then. We were both anxious the whole time and it seemed we had reached a peak on our online portion of our relationship. We needed to see each other. Having sent pictures, gifts and conversations on the telephone, we were sure that everything would go smoothly and we’d have many more trips to come.

When the day came in January to visit her, I was both scared and a little nervous. Finding her in the airport was a little chore since she was sitting in a totally different place than I had expected. But when we met, we hugged and seemed to do well. Still living at home, and the fact that during the season I was there, things were slow, we didn’t get to do all that much. We did see a professional basketball game and some movies, but the best part was just hanging out together. I was anxious to get closer and show how much I loved her, but I guess I was a little overzealous sometimes and I had to lay back in order to let things happen slower. I guess we weren’t totally ready to visit one another and although we both had fun, we just didn’t seem to get as close as we did online.

After a week, I left for home a little confused, but happy nonetheless that things worked out. Getting back home and resuming the chatting online was the hardest thing and it didn’t go as smoothly as it had before. I felt depressed and didn’t know what I had done or how differently I should have reacted with her. I guess she just wasn’t ready and at that point my heart sank. I thought it was over… or at least to the point that we’d be just friends and that’s all.

But you know…. Good things happen to those who wait and I’m happy to say we worked through that trip and have gotten closer than ever. Everything that made us love one another came back and we really wanted to visit again. This time expecting more and wanting more in return. She planned her trip to see me this July and I’m waiting anxiously to see her. Everything seems great and even the prospect of us living together someday seems better and better.

School is the only thing she has to complete and I’m willing to wait through all of that for her. She’s been worth everything to me. Our conversations have usually been very long and involved and I have saved many of them as reminders of things we first did together and feelings we had. I still save some to this date, but for now we’re content in knowing things will happen in time. We know we’ll get together someday and it’s just a few more years till that will happen.

She’s been the greatest inspiration in my life of late and really pushed me on to be the best I can at work and as a person and in turn I’ve tried to do the same for her too. We have many reminders of each other to keep us going. I gave her a sapphire necklace and she gave me this wonderful engraved bracelet. We’ll never keep each other out of mind for too long.

In closing, this is just the start of something wonderful and we both feel glad that we’re in this relationship. Where as we couldn’t find happiness right in our own towns, we found it thousands of miles apart. And we’ll just keep getting closer and closer each day.

I love you Airica. And I can only hope for the best between us. The Internet connects us as people and I truly thank technology for letting me meet such a wonderful girl. Things can happen to all of us if we’re patient and see things through. Maybe in a year I’ll let you know how we’re doing. But for now I’m waiting for her next visit and the many more to come.

Believe in yourself and others and rewards will come if you’re patient.

"Curt"