Internet Dating Pioneer

That would be....ahemmmm.....Me! 

Eleven years ago, I dipped my toes into a new and unknown way of meeting people - Internet dating.  At the time, Ninemsn had a site which was free and relatively easy to use.  So I uploaded a photo, wrote a few short paragraphs and waited to see what would happen.......

Months went by, I never used the site and was getting rather fed up with revolting old men emailing me and was just about to delete my profile when BAM!!  I received a very interesting email........from a guy called Andrew.

Now unbeknownst to me (because I obviously took it all very seriously - not) I had put an age range into the computer.  So he started off his email with "You said you're looking to meet someone 22-30, I'm a month shy of 22, can I make the cut?"  Made me laugh the first time I set eyes on him his words.  I can't remember the whole email, I kick myself that I didn't save it somewhere, but I honestly don't think I would have believed anything would ever have come of it!

I allowed him to make the cut, and we emailed back and forth for a while, before moving on to phone calls.  I had absolutely NO IDEA what he looked like, because he had no photo on the site.  I found out later why he had no photo - he actually only signed up to contact ME!  You see, he and his work mates would spend lunch breaks scrolling through dating sites laughing at the profile pictures, wondering which website/magazine the person had stolen the image from!  And one day, as he was scrolling through - he saw ME!  All together now - AWWWWWWWW......

Anyway, I digress.  I still had no idea what he looked like and had to trust him when he said he didn't look like an ogre.  I was a 26 year old, soon to be divorcee with a three year old son - I really didn't have much to lose!  So I trusted him.....to a point.   When the time came to actually meet face to face, I told the friend I was living with that she would answer the door, and if he was feral, she was to tell him I wasn't there!  Mature yes?  His car pulled up, I ran and hid and next thing I knew, I was assured he was OK and went to the door to meet him.

Now I'd like to tell you that it was love at first sight, that fireworks erupted when I met him - but no.  He often reminds me of the little old peck on the cheek I left him with that evening.  Gotta keep a guy guessing yes?

The fireworks came..... with the first kiss.

Needless to say, that kiss led us to here.  Now.  The future.

This story has been told many times over, and no doubt, will be a million times more.  In the early days, it was VERY uncommon for people to meet, let alone tell people they met online.  Hence why I like to think of myself as a pioneer!

I love that we have a story.  That our relationship was built on trust from day one.  That it still builds and gets stronger as the years roll on.

I would like to think that I can tell this story to a couple more generations of my family.  So they can laugh at the antiquated ways of the early 2000's.  And that when I'm telling the story, Andrew will be beside me, holding my hand.

Then - 2001

Now!