Hi Andrea,

I met a man on the Internet last summer. We exchanged letters and telephone calls for a little over a month, then decided to have a face to face meeting. I made reservations for two rooms. That Friday I left work, and took a bus to the hotel. My new friend was waiting in the lobby when I arrived. We greeted one another, and began what turned out to be a two day marathon of great conversation minus time out for sleep. We walked over to Costco for the hot dog special, then back to the hotel where we drank tea and coffee in the restaurant.

The second time, his visited the city where I lived lasted six days including the Thanksgiving holiday in late November. We did some sightseeing. He visited my place of employment and met my friends. After that, we decided to spend two weeks with my family during Christmas. I enjoyed the second and third visits even more than I could have ever imagined.

One of my sons made a trip to meet my friend's adult children. They took him to visit interesting places during his stay. Upon their return from that journey, I made a trip to visit the city where my friend lived. I visited his place of employment, and met his coworkers, friends, and neighbors. Now it was my turn to meet my friend's family. We had the airline tickets tucked away and ready to go. My family wanted accompany us for a two week visit with his parents, siblings, and friends.

A coworker asked me if I truly and passionately loved this man whom I was planning to marry. I simply smiled in rely to this very personal question. In retrospect, I realized that I firmly believed that this was the person with whom I meant to grow old.

What precautions did we take to protect ourselves against the dangers involved in meeting a total stranger? First of all, we exchanged telephone numbers. Second, during the time we spent together, both on the Internet and the telephone, much of our conversation dealt with goals, objectives, and values clarification. Third, we checked identification, credentials, education, employment, FBI, credit reports, and exchanged resumes. Fourth, my family and friends were fully aware of my activities and movements, and had full knowledge of his identity and personal information. Fifth, the sole, direct, and explicit purpose of the initial contact was legal marriage. We were searching for life long mates.

I look forward to talking to him. I think he is has a great sense of humor. He is quite intelligent, and a great conversationalist. He is an attractive individual. He likes to talk as much as I do! We both have broad interests and adventuresome natures. I am much happier now that I've found him. He is not the type of person I might find at a museum, night club, local bar, in a college course, on the ski slope, or sitting on a towel at the beach. We are both busy people with a great deal of responsibility. I can get along without a husband, and he can continue on without a wife. However, we both agree that together, life sure is nice.