Hello Andrea,
I just happened to come across your site and was fascinated by the varied stories portrayed in those pages. One of the things that struck me was the ephemeral nature of those relationships. They seemed like flowers that either bloomed or were blighted in mere heartbeats.

My story is somewhat different for, you see, I have been conducting a relationship by email and now ICQ with a woman 9,000 miles away since 1991.  In that time we have never met, and I seriously doubt we ever shall.

It started in a newsgroup dedicated to an organisation we both belong to. She sent in a cheeky message and I replied in kind. Without any apparent effort we were soon emailing each other daily, sharing our stories, fears, and hopes in ways that I would dread to do with anybody else. In a way, I talked to her in deeper ways than I did my wife (yes, I am married and so is she).
A spark developed between us that seemed almost miraculous. In 1994 she lost her job and with it her access to the internet. We tried to maintain the relationship through "snail-mail" but the time between letters did not suit the quickfire nature of our
minds.

The letters grew quickly more infrequent until they stopped altogether. For the next few years I kept thinking of her and the good times we had shared. I searched for her throughout the internet hoping that she had regained her electronic voice. In that search I found others to pass the time with, but there was always something missing. Her absence was like a hole
in my soul that needed filling.

By sheer coincidence, early this year I was trying out ICQ on my new computer when a familiar name burst onto my screen. She was back. From that very second it was like we had never been apart. We had both aged, changed (we now both wear glasses!)and experienced much but the need to share our thoughts had not changed.

I don't know what the future holds for us. Our common dream is to meet in real life, but the distance and our real life spouses might make that a wish condemned to never be achieved. But, to tell you the truth, I really don't care.

Martin