If anyone had told me 12 months ago that I'd be having an internet romance with a wonderful young woman I'd have probably told them they were talking stupid. I've read about people in this position and I'd often thought "How can you love somebody over the internet?" Well, here I am and I can tell you it is possible. I wouldn't have thought anybody could feel so deeply about someone I've never met.

When we first met I thought it was funny really chatting to a young lady from my old home town but I'm sure the romantics will call it fate.

We'd chat about anything and everything and it soon became obvious that we had a lot of things in common. We think so much alike that we often type the same lines in chat. Sparkle has got a terrific personality and a sense of humour to match. As I found out later, she's got the looks as well. We started off chatting in Yahoo fairly casually but things progressed as they do. Our chats became longer and more frequent, we'd exchange a ton of e-mails, pics and finally the magic day when she rang me. It was great to hear her voice and be able to picture her entirely. Since then, we've regularly spent hours in chat and on the phone. I realised how much I thought of her when I'd get up in the morning and head straight for the computer to see if there was any mail from her. To find mail from her has to be the best start to the day.

As Sparkle said, when we first met I was married but unhappily for several years. Talking to Sparkle made me feel good about myself again and gave my self-confidence the kick start it desperately needed. I'm happier now than I've been in ages and I owe it all to her. Some people think the internet is rubbish but, after letting me meet Sparkle, I think its worth its weight in gold.

Sparkle is coming over here on holiday in August and this has to be the highlight of the past few years. To finally meet after all this time is like having a dream come true. Like Sparkle, I'm nervous about our meeting but our feelings for each other should overcome this. Just to be able to hold her after all this time will make me a truly happy man.

"Mod"