Cyber Romance

As I sit rocking my 1 month old son in the chair I was privy to 6 (yes 6) commercials for a variety of internet dating sites. Unlike alot of people, I am all for and supportive of romance that starts online. I dont really have a choice as Shawn and I met online.

Why? Well because he lived in a very (VERY) small town where his options were limited (either already dated them, they were married or he was related to them). I was a single mom of a little girl which I quickly found out was kinda like having the plague to many (mostly the ones I met) men. I didnt go to the bar, I worked and went to school and was home with Piper. My time frame to go out and met someone was limited (non-existent).

I had tried dating online and had met a couple of people, but no one who would last long term. Same thing for Shawn.

Both of us were tired of it and ready to quit when my mom said "you have to try this one more site and if you dont, then I will do it for you."

Where was my option in that...either I set up my profile or my mother does...so I sat at the computer and created my profile. 1 month...thats all I did. 30 days...I can handle it for 30 days.

2 weeks in, I saw his page, sent him....we emailed for a month before we talked on the phone, then we talked on the phone for 2 months before we met in person. The rest, as they say, is H-I-S-T-O-R-Y!!!

Since I met Shawn, my brother has started dated a great chick he met online, another friend of mine just had her boyfriend move from Utah to Michigan, and 2 of my friends from high school have married men they met online.

Yes, things can go wrong and there are bad people out there but you cannot live life in the shadows out of worry and fear. You need to be careful. You need to be sage and smart. There is an opportunity in online dating that gives you the chance to do something that I think is missing in alot of relationships right now...TALK. Communicate. You cant go jumping into bed with someone who is 1100 miles away from you even if you are charmed and attracted to them. It forces you to talk about everything for hours on end because while there is a very strong connection and attraction, you can only foster that by communicating. For Shawn and I, we never ran out of stuff to talk about. For hours at night, every night, we talked. And when we finally met in person, we kept talking.

If you ask him, I havent shut up yet :-)

If you are sitting home alone (like I was) and are frusterated with the dating pool where you live...try another one. Most out of your comfort zone. You dont have to look out of state...go to the town next to you....you never know where you soul mate may be sitting. Mine was hanging out in Nebraska...who would have thought......