How did you guys meet?

[KarenCee 3]

We met November 2003 in a cancer support group online. His father had passed a couple years before and my mom had just been diagnosed with Stage 4 breast mets, meaning her cancer had come back and spread from her breast to her lungs and bones....she was terminal. I was having a very hard time dealing with the anger, the fear, and feeling inadequate as I cared for her. I had only been in this group a few months when Joel shows up. Oh at the time I had no idea of his name, we had just met. I'm not sure who PM'd who first...doesn't really matter I suppose. I just know something clicked...he felt the same but we dared not call it anything but friendship, after all we had both been through terrible relationships. Besides, all we wanted was friendship....right?

Yeah. By January 2004 we were chatting regularly...daily even. It seemed as if we knew each other forever, we were that comfortable talking albeit online. February we mentioned talking on the phone but it was actually March before that happened. LOL, he said "You really ARE southern!" the first time he heard my voice (I live in Georgia). I mentioned feeling the need for a road trip, you know...feeling him out, seeing what he would say. He loved the idea and asked where did I think I'd like to go? Canada I says. Silence. Then excitement. Whew! Soooo...plans were made and July 2004 I made my first ever trip to Nova Scotia and my first ever flight as well. By that time we had already started saying I love you, but it was only as friends...right? After all, friends said I love you...right?

Our first face to face was...life changing. That first eye contact, that first touch of his hand on my face and that first kiss...I was hooked, sunk, and any other adjective you can think of...I was IN love. That week definately changed our "friendship". He and I finally admitted we were "IN" love by September. We said it at the same time to each other, not knowing the other was going to say it. We do things like that a lot anyways.

After that, several flights back and forth, he asked me to marry him September 2005. Then began our journey. During this immigration journey my beloved Momma passed...thank goodness she had met Joel and really loved him and for that I am eternally grateful. She knew we were to be married and that was her last wish...that she should live long enough to see that, but that wasn't to be. *sigh* I'm sure she looked down from heaven and witnessed her daughter and her son in law take their vows...at least I like to think of it that way.

May 13, 2006...my beloved Joel flew home forever. We were married July 7, 2006. Life is good...very good!

[Melyssa 0]

Since Canada is much closer to the US -- I wonder if we'll have more diversity in meeting online vs. meeting in person?

It's funny b/c I have a lot of "online friends" but I met my fiance in person while travelling in the U.S.

[Emancipation 2]

I love this thread.. wonderful to hear everyone's stories.

Hubby & I met online in a random chat room. We were just talking in the main room (3-4 of us) about divorce, how tough it is, what it does to you, how you hurt after it, and he PM'd me and asked me if I'd like to talk more outside the room. I gave him my "fake" MSN handle and though - oh well what else do I have to do? We chatted for hours after, and then I gave him my "real" handle. We MSN'd & E-mailed for weeks, then the phone, then a couple of months passed and we started thinking.. maybe we should meet. We both wanted to "see" each other before we threw all our emotions and hearts into the ring, but honestly I was already hooked.

We met in Bar Harbor at the end of June last year and spent 4 days hiking, biking and expoloring. We ate lobster, ice cream and just enjoyed our first meeting. We knew. We really knew. The next 7 months were back & forth - He in CT & I in PEI, him getting to know my family & Friends and me preparing to move. He proposed the 1st weekend we were together; however on Christmas Eve he proposed again this time with a beautiful heart shaped ring with my family all present. My mother & Sister in law in tears, and I amazed at his comfort level to do that. He rocks pretty much !

[Carlawarla 1]

Gene and I met in an AT&T chatroom in late 2001. We randomly chatted until Feb 2002, when we began to exclusively chat with each other on Yahoo IM. We first talked on the phone in April 2002, and so began daily chatting and telephoning for many years... We talked about everything under the sun. We didn't have any distractions that so many couples do when dating in person. We talked about family, our childhoods, our values, ethics, characters. We exchanged and listened to music together, we voice chatted, we played on-line games together. We met in person in October 2003 and our love blossomed even further.

I had been seperated for 3 years, but my ex and I, in an attempt to reconcile financial and property issues without benefit of lawyers, weren't divorced. As soon as I attempted to reconcile these differences via a lawyer, things heated up. I was divorced in May of 2004, however our property issues weren't resolved with the court until December 2005.

In the meantime, Gene and I met every two months. Because of both our jobs working for the Gov't. for a long time, we had lots of vacation time for each other. Also because of Gene's job, we were able to travel and meet up in various places. Gene came to Canada three times, I was in the US about 10 times. The longest time I spent here was in the fall of 2005 for 3 months.

Also because of Gene's job however, I had to undergo two years of security clearances before we could even get permission to marry. This was fraught with a lot of tears and fears as I was a "foreign national", and not a US citizen, and Gene was not allowed to have a relationship, (let alone wife!) without special permission and security clearance. This was granted however in April 2006, and we then submitted our paperwork.

Gene proposed in the Edmonton Airport with a ring, on bended knee, because he wanted to do this "right" he said, and not before we had all our paperwork and clearances in order. He was shaking and trembling, with his "will you marry me?" hat on....and after I said yes, while crying...quickly put the ring on my finger! He had earlier brought the ring with him in his pocket, not declaring it, and after an hour through secondary customs and threatened with confiscation of the ring...well, he just wanted to get it on my finger before someone took it away!

I "retired" from my job in Canada, and arrived in the US in January of 2007. We married April 7th.

Gene and I are soulmates and kindred spirits. People say to us, that our relationship has had to endure long distance, and many obstacles in it's path, which it has. While we were going through it, it seemed to take forever. We waited for forty years though to meet, fall in love and spend the rest of our lives together. So really, this immigration journey hasn't been so bad!

Carla

[warlord 73]

We met at an arts fest. I was living an hour away in the Springs, but had a ton of friends in Denver. Every year there was this underground arts fest with bands and art and such. I was staying with 2 friends and during the event (runs from noon to 2am) wanted to go home in the evening, but said I could stay and just let myself in when I wanted to leave.

So I stayed behind, met another friend who had to work the entire event and said I could just stay with her and her husband that night and then they'd drive me over to my other friends house in the morning. So that worked. She had to go to the other bar (part of the event) to do the photo shoot for the band playing, so I came along. Since she was busy taking photos, I just sat down next to this girl who smiled at me. We both did a double take of each other and then just started to talk. After a bit, I asked her to hold my beer and I'd be right back. Went to the other room and ended up meeting a friend I hadn't seen in a year, so we talked for about an hour. Came back and guess who was still there with my beer. We ended up closing the bar talking and didn't even realize the band had stopped and everyone was getting kicked out.

Anyways we talked on the phone after that here and there and she was going to a club a few weeks later and said I should go. I did, met her and her boyfriend (ahhhh). Anyways we just talked on the phone after that and I kind of helped listen and give her an ear with her problems with her and her boyfriend. She ended up dumping him and going camping with me one weekend, then to another event, then to a friends wedding. After that, we officially started dating and would spend some nights at her place (Denver) and the others at mine in (Colorado Springs). Got married a year or so after that...

[Udella&Wiz 325]

We met playing World of Warcraft on-line. We just clicked from the get go. Books, movies, music, interests, everything. The clincher was I quoted Shakespeare in an email and it was her favorite one. When we finally met and I looked in her eyes, well it was over. Hooked forever.

If music be the food of love, play on

[Doug n Amanda 0]

Pretty funny, actually...I found out the "slob" (ex-boyfriend) was posting profiles on Internet dating sites (b4 he was the ex), so I joined a few for "evidence" and Doug answered my ad on Plenty of Fish.com

We talked online for a few months, decided to meet "as friends", and it's been love ever since!

[ItsOver 0]

We met on Skype IM. I was surfing the web and she popped in and said Hello. We chatted from then on for about 1.5 months. I was looking to take a big trip after my divorce. She said, "come visit me!" A couple weeks later I was off to Bulgaria a year ago yesterday. Was going to stay a month that became 3 months then we returned to the U.S. She was permitted to stay 6 months. Now here we are awaiting our papers and her return to be married.

I thank God everyday for her.

[Karly-n-Bruce 0]

We met online on a Karen Carpenter forum (www.leadsister.com) in May 2005. I had been dealing with major issues at the time and had just gone through a breakup, so he PMed me to offer his support and "ear" if I ever needed anyone to talk to. The private messages turned into msn chats, which turned into phone calls, then meeting in person in Ohio (where he grew up) in July 2005 and things progressed from there. His proposal was interesting to say the least. It was after 4 in the morning, we were sitting on the trunk of my car in an empty Sears parking lot in Canada. It was his last visit to see me because he would be heading back home in a couple days (he was in Florida, he was visiting his Mom in Ohio) so we were trying to enjoy each other a little longer before having to say goodbye. Out of nowhere, he just blurted out "Marry me?". I looked at him funny and said "Are you serious?". He responded with yes, I said yes and then we sat there amazed, hugging and kissing and trying to figure out what had just happened. Looking back, he tells me he still doesn't know what came over him but he (and I) is glad it did. We've been happily married since November 17, 2006.

[jg_am 0]

I seemed to have posted this quite a few times in the last few days, but this will be the detailed version. I'm in Philly and she was in alberta at the time. As part of a short-term missions trip with my church, I went to a handicamp in Montana in the summer of '04. She was also going there to volunteer but stays most of the summer. She sat next to me during camp training becuase I "looked older and married and didn't seem like I would be a distraction". Well, Iw as older but unmarried. We talked a bit but not much. Unbekown to me, she was observing me all week. When my group went to Glacier PArk, she was invitied along by someone else. She rode in the van and we talked, all the while I thought it was silly for me to talk with her(distance, etc). She decided on that trip she didn't like me anymore. The girls had a sleep over the last night of camp and she asked a lot of questions about me, prompting one of my friends to think she liked me. She told me this a month later. Needless to say, the thought grew legs and we started emailing. We stopped after a month b/c we thought nothing would ever come of the emails; they were just small talk.

Anyway, as the next summer rolled around we started emailing more frequently about being excited about camp. We both must have sensed we were thinking about each other because there was an awkwardness when we were near each other. We sat next to each other for a meal or two but still couldn't talk. Her parents came to pick her up early to take her to a wedding and I met them. She came back for the last day of camp and we alkted for aboput an hour that night. When I got home we started emailing every day. At the end of the summer we both alluded to something on our minds so finally I asked her if we were just emailing or if it could be something more(after much prayer and advice from my Christian frinds). We decided to see where things would go and that October I flew to Great Falls to get a rental car an drive to Coutts. We could email, carry a converstion on the phone, but there was this akwardness to being together. WE didn't know what to say. We drove to Lethbridge the next night for dinner and on the way I thought how brutal this was going. But at the same time, there was this sense of peace. I guess that's the peace that passes understanding.

We were walking around and she asked what I was thinking. I wanted to hold her hand but didn't feel right because we weren't talking. She grabbed my hand and this...I don't know...all the awkwardness went away. After dinner, we went to Henderson Lake and sat on a bench. I said I wanted to kiss her, and she said 'Why don't you". As we were kissing, and the way she was holding me, I thought there was no way I ever wanted to let her go. I visited again in December and she came in February. When she left, I wrote a song for her, which was how I would propose. When I went back in March, I asked her dad if I could marry her. I was thinking of doing it at that visit, but I needed abunch of options: small house is Coutts, family ina nother room, taking a guitar for a walk, etc. Anyway, I waited until she came Memorial Day weekend of '06 and we got engaged. We called USCIS that weekend to see what we needed to do to get married. We got married this past March.

My sister-in-law's brother told me about VJ and this has helped a lot.

[jg_am 0]

I forgot to add that the last line of the song was the propsal. I hid the ring under a pillow and as I got to the last line, I put the guitar down, got ona knee and got the ring from behind the pillow.

[Emancipation 2]

I forgot to add that the last line of the song was the propsal. I hid the ring under a pillow and as I got to the last line, I put the guitar down, got ona knee and got the ring from behind the pillow.

Such a beautiful ending to a beautiful story - Thanks for adding that!

[neiks 19]

As I have posted in another thread.

We cross at land borders - at very small ports that aren't even open 24 hours. Hours of operation are 8:00-21:00. It's actually the port that I started my Customs career at and I literally met my husband at the border when I was working and he has hauling a load of his Canola to a grain elevator in Canada. I had to give him sh#t because he he didn't have the paper work filled out right. His dad (my now father-in-law) crossed frequently into Canada to golf, curl and have coffee. I use to give him grief (only in jest) when he would be sitting waiting at the port when I arrived in the morning to open the port

I would have to clear my now husband on numereous occasions into Canada and then on his way back he would stop and visit. Although, he didn't say much and I had to do all the talking. Finally, one day I asked if he wanted my phone number and he nodded his head yes. So I gave it to him but then he never called! It was probably 5 months later I was at the local watering hole across the border and he was in there and sat down beside me. It was him, myself, his brother and the bar tender Jack sitting around. I said to Jack, "Jack, What would you say if I told you I gave Bradyn my phone number months ago and he never called" Jack looked at him and said "he's an dumbass" He just hung his head and said he didn't want to call and get shoot down. So, needless to say the next evening - guess who called? And the rest is history. I always say that I had to "shame" him into going out with me. I guess I was a little intimadating and him a little on the shy side. Gosh, what happend to those days?

[jynxNdragnfly 0]

I met my soon to be husband on lava life. I had just gotten out of a scary relationship and a girl I used to work with told me that a bunch of her friends were on lava life. They were dating really great guys that were normal from there. So I figured for fun I would put an ad up. Before I did though I searched first and 3/4 of the way down the first page I saw his picture. I thought he was hot so I read his ad. I found it hard to believe that this beautiful man had written the ad, actually meant what it said and he was single until I came to the line 'if you're allergic to cats please don't respond'. Since I've always been allergic to cats, though it's gotten better over the years, I figured that counted me out until I saw that he lived in the US. Well that counted him out since I didn't want to date an American LOL I finally put my ad up and had mentioned the 'hot american' to my best friend. For some reason he stuck in my head and I promised if he ended up in my inbox I would take the bait. 3 days after posting my ad he was in my inbox LOL A few emails were sent back and forth. 2 hours were spent on msn chatting and then he phoned me. We talked every night for a few days and made a date for a friday. I told him he had to come across to Canada as I wasn't comfortable with going to Michigan to meet him. He came on the friday night. Neither one of us wanted the 'date' to end. I was over in Michigan the next day and so far there hasn't been a night that we haven't talked on the phone nor a friday where I haven't crossed the border.

As for the proposal..... We had talked about marriage early on. One week in an email he said he wanted to go jewlery shopping. So that weekend we went to look at rings. He picked one out and I tried it on getting all misty eyed. He didn't buy that ring. It kept floating around in my head that he may ask me to marry him. On a friday night in October (the 27th to be exact) we were getting ready to go to a Barenaked Ladies concert. I was in the bathroom putting on make up when he called for me to go into the office. The door was shut, which if he's in there it's open, and when I opened the door he was down on one knee. The only thought that crossed my mind was 'what's he doing on the floor?' so I started looking on the floor to see if he had dropped something and needed help finding it LOL It took a bit for me to realize he was holding a ring in his hand and when my hearing came back (he said he started into a speech of sorts then realized I was oblivious to what was going on) all I heard was 'so will you marry me?' LOL No I'm not blonde for those of you wondering

So that's my story. We get married in a couple of weeks in Las Vegas.

[TheATeam 0]

Andrew and I met playing World of Warcraft in October last year. I got into the game because it was a way to spend time with an ex-boyfriend. How silly huh? He just didn't want to spend time with me otherwise. In retrospect a HUGE sign, but I'm eternally grateful for it.

About a week after the ex and I broke up Andrew and I started really talking because we played the game in the same guild. I can't tell you what it was for sure, but all I know is that I knew I had to get to know him and that there was something super special about him. I think it was less than a month before I knew I loved him and said the words. To my surprise he said them back and I knew he meant them. From then on we started planning when the first meeting would be. We decided that he would come visit me in Alberta for Christmas. That was an amazing 11 days! He met my grandparents on New Year's Day as well. What an awesome guy.

Since then we've seen each other at least once a month. We can't seem to go without each other. Since finding VJ it's been a little difficult as we've realized that we won't be able to be physically together for a lot longer than we anticipated. At the same time, with the help of this site we know things will be fantastic!

As for the proposal, there hasn't been one yet. We're going to be filing the I-129F, so I guess we'll see. We did go ring shopping once and HE'S the one with the expensive taste! YAY! ~giggles~ I guess we shall see. It's just going to be part of the journey that I can't wait to continue on!