Happy Anniversary

Beware the Ides of March!

I guess the term always means something fateful is going to happen. Well, 11 years ago today it did. That is the first day that M and I finally met in person after a few months of e-mail, chat rooms and phone calls.

M was living in Florida and I was here in NJ. I was a moderator for a Lesbian only chat room. M used to come in…say Hi…say a few things and then always said good bye as she was leaving.

One day…she didn’t say good bye.

Hmmmmmm…the nerve!

What’s up with that?

I sent her an instant message to see if all was OK. And that’s how it all started!

At the time, we were both in rather bad relationships. I was with the psycho bitch from hell and she was with her twin sister – psycho bitch from Florida…equally as hot as hell, but add the humidity and it’s frickin’ unbearable.

We both ended our relationships…and decided that there was a little “something going on here” that we needed to investigate. Luck had it that she had a business trip planned in Philadelphia so we decided I would meet her there and see where this was going.

Our first meeting was not quite what we had hoped it would be.

First, I was 2 hours late!!! Our first meeting and I was 2 hours late! I got stuck in traffic on the way in and this was before cell phones were affordable so there was no way I could call her. (Strike 1)

When I finally arrived and apologizing profusely we headed out to find something to do and get some lunch.

I had planned on staying the night and M had requested a room with 2 queen beds…because you know…we don’t want to ASSUME we’re gonna hook up on the first night or anything. When I got to the hotel she told me that all they had was a room with a king bed. Now it was her turn to apologize profusely! (I was secretly saying to myself – YES)

We first went to the Camden aquarium – it was packed with school kids and was less than an ideal first date place to go. Later that day…I found out M is not really fond of aquariums. (Strike 2)

Oh…did I mention that I was soooooo nervous that I kept running through red lights? Yeah…there were about 3 of them that I just didn’t see. M was very polite and just quietly said: “did you know you just went through a red light?”

Ugh
(strike 3?)

Well…I was in a danger zone definitely, but we both hung in there to see if we could salvage this weekend.

For Dinner we found a little restaurant in the gay section of Philly where were treated like family. It wasn’t especially fancy, but it was warm and cozy and things started to turn around. We had learned a lot about each other over e-mails and instant messages, and phone calls, but now we got to see how we reacted to each other in person.

Was there chemistry? Yes…definitely

Did we find each other attractive? Yes…we did!

Where we comfortable with each other? Yes…unbelievably so – well, except for the beginning jitters of meeting someone for the first time, I think we both felt very comfortable with each other.

After Dinner, we headed towards Sisters which is a lesbian club in Philly…we hung out there for a little while and decided it may be best if we “go back to the hotel”!

Getting back to the room, there was the bed issue. How were we going to handle this?

Let’s just say…we handled it very well thank you! ;)

On Sunday, it got a little colder over night and poor M only had a light jacket with her (she lived in Florida, they don’t need heavy coats down there), we walked around and around and around looking for a café or place for breakfast…geez we walked forever before finally finding something.

We watched a bit of the St. Patrick’s Day parade before it was obvious that M was freezing and then we decided to head back to the hotel to “get warm.”

I hung out for the rest of the day and finally we said our goodbyes. I didn’t want to leave. I felt safe and happy that weekend. The best I had felt in a long time. M didn’t want to go either, but she had a flight to catch so we parted ways.

There were a lot more phone calls and e-mails and a few additional visits back and forth, but by September I flew down and packed up the Lesbian U-haul and we drove back to NJ and started living together.

11 years later…we’re still here!

Happy Anniversary M! I love you!