I had the internet November 1998........... and used to have about an hour on a Saturday and Sunday evening chatting on Mirc..... I got to chat to a few people regularly, but only as friends. I had a friend who became involved with someone on the net and remained sceptical as far as a relationship on the net.

The First Encounter

However, on Saturday 6th February 1999, after an hour on Mirc, and not finding anyone I normally chatted to, I sent a message up on the main screen (something I had NEVER done before) just saying
'Moondust says hi to everyone'  A message came back on the main screen (something Mike had never done before) saying
'Spiritfeather' says hi to Moondust'. Then I clicked on to him for a private chat and the rest is history !! as they say !!!

Mike had only been on the net a matter of a few weeks by then, and that night we just 'clicked'..... I know it sounds like a cliché but that is how it happened. Neither of us was in a relationship........ but neither of us was actively looking... it was just one of those flukes....... we were only on beginner channel, not a romance one or such like. I told Mike about ICQ as a way of keeping in touch... right from the word go we both knew this could lead somewhere, which sounds irrational but that is how it was.

Mike sent me an email to wake up to, and on the Sunday morning I sent him a photo of myself. With the time difference, Toronto is 5 hours back, and the fact that Mike worked 4 days of 10 hour shifts... made it impossible to chat in the week, as well as the expense. It's OK for Canada, they don't pay!!! So we agreed that he would send me an email when he was home from work, which I would receive in the morning... and I would do one for him in the evening which he would get on his arrival home from work. We then went online to chat for 2 hours on a Saturday and a Sunday.... unless he felt the need to phone me.... which became more frequent! We discovered an internet phone although sometimes it didn't work very well.

Valentine's Day

At first he didn't have a scanner but went to buy one that week. He scanned me a photo on Friday 12th February which I received when I came home from a few drinks with a friend!! We had a chat on ICQ but I could barely see the keyboard let alone type. Mike thought it was funny!! He phoned me for the first time (and took me by surprise) on Valentine's Day 1999 ....... as well as sending email cards. This was the week his system crashed and had to go in for repair, I still sent an email every day.. he collected them all on Friday. Other than a computer problem, we have emailed each other every single day without fail.. even if we were tired or not well... we emailed to say so.........
From the word go we knew if this was to work, one of us would have to move country. I told him he could not get a job in the UK on the pay he gets in Canada, so it made more sense for us to sell up and move to Canada. Also, as my parents are no longer alive and I am an only child, so it made more sense for us to move rather than drag him away from his mum, brothers and sons.

Visit to the UK

 About March 1999 he asked me how I felt about him coming over to the UK for my birthday in July. Naturally I said go ahead and book a flight. We would have met earlier but Mike chose my birthday specifically to visit to make it more special. We had already talked about getting married....... we only had words......... it was like we had the end result sorted before anything else could get in the way. We did all the talking about ourselves and our lives and everything before we met, and like Mike says, the physical stuff didn't get in the way. We both knew we were going to get on well when we met.. neither of us had a doubt....... but it is nice to have it confirmed.

It was strange when we met... he arrived on my doorstep having been met by a taxi driver at Manchester airport......... and although it felt a bit odd at first, it didn't last long. He arrived on the 3rd July 1999, a day before my birthday. It was 4 days later, after a pleasant evening out with friends, to celebrate a joint birthday as hers was the 7th July, that he proposed to me .......... and I accepted. He had brought a diamond engagement ring out from Canada with him........... he later admitted that he had bought it in March.

My 2 boys, Andrew then 10 and Paul then 8, were thrilled to bits with the idea..... and the boys dad was fine with them moving to Canada because he said it would be a good life for them. That was a possible problem as he had to give permission. Mike has 2 boys Luke then 16 and Matthew then 18 from a previous marriage, and as Matthew is the only one of legal age, he asked if he could be best man, and of course we said that would be wonderful. Nobody had told us that we were totally insane........... not that Mike's mum could do anyway  when you read how she came to be in Canada (his father died a few years ago)

A Previous Romance

He is a Canadian, born in Toronto, but his parents and grandparents are Italian. When his father was 18 and his mother 15, they were each shown a photo of the other and asked if they wanted to get married!!! They agreed, but as his father was in Toronto and his mother was in Italy, they married by proxy, with a translator (neither spoke the others language!!) over short wave radio !!! Then his mum packed her bags and came to Canada!!! So at least we have had the technology to get to know each other more than she had. Romance must run in the family!!! Or at least crossing the Atlantic Ocean!!!