We met online. I know everyone says that, but, well, when it happens it happens. We didn't meet off a dating website, but we're both big nerds (apparently), so we met through a friend of mine who ran into him in an online game one day and introduced us. I liked him right away -- Rick's got that elusive, rockstar personality that seems so rare these days, and most everybody takes to him immediately. He's ten years older from me, however, so while after a few weeks I knew I had a bit of a crush on him after chatting online for so long, I thought he was out of my league. I was 18, he was 28. Aside from that, his personality is definitely not geared towards online dating.
After a while, though, I knew I had to say something. I'd get all doe-eyed talking to him . . . it was nauseating for my friends, I'm sure. I decided that I had to tell him I liked him. I really didn't expect anything to come of it, it had just become something I needed to get off my chest, and I knew him well enough by then to know he'd let me down gently.
He still says he had no idea, and that it was like I chucked a watermelon at his head; he was literally stunned. Stunned, but, as it turned out . . . pleasantly surprised. I hastily let him know that I wasn't asking for anything from him, and for the next several days, I went around feeling relieved.
Both because I'd told him, and because we were getting so much closer.
To cut a long story short, we exchanged our "I love yous" not soon after, and embarked on roughly three years of day and night phone calls that lasted hours at a time. Initially, I think, the age difference worried him some; he's a very laid back type of guy, relaxed about life right now, and he was initially worried that because I was so young, I'd end up wanting some huge change of life, or to spend a year back packing across Europe or something. Luckily, I'm far too mellow and disdainful of hostels for that sort of thing.
My first attempt to visit was a bust. He'd bought my ticket, and I'd travelled eight hours to the airport, but customs refused me because I didn't have sufficient proof that I wasn't going to run off into the states and never return; this being back in 2004 before I had a passport. So, next year was his turn; he came up to Canada to visit.
We spent a little over a week in Edmonton, and immediately set about planning my trip for the following year, which went off smoothly this time; I stayed a month, and we went to Disney for a week. That was October of last year, and when I got back home, we immediately set to filing for our K-1.
I was a little amused, actually. I think in all the excitement he forgot to propose until I was actually back in the country after being approved. I think for both of us it had sort of become an unintentionally unspoken agreement after nearly five years.
Thankfully, everything's gone off without a hitch, and I'm here to stay.
