I met Matthew online in 1997, on a bulletin board system called ISCA. I was in college in Cullowhee, North Carolina and he was living and working in St. Cloud, Minnesota; we were both 22 years old. We talked online and on the phone every day for months. On October 23, 1997 Matthew flew down to North Carolina and we met for the first time on my 23rd birthday. A month or so later Matthew moved to St. Louis, Missouri to take a job.
Over the next year I flew up to St. Louis several times and Matthew came back down to North Carolina a few times and we talked for hours on the phone everyday. I graduated college in May 1998 and moved back in with my mom for a few months while I decided what to do with my life. I hadn’t been able to find a job in my field (technical writing at the time) and missed Matthew terribly. I lived with my mom and worked as a receptionist while saving up my money. After long debate we decided that I would move to St. Louis.
On October 24, 1998 I moved to St. Louis, Missouri. I knew two people in St. Louis, Matthew and his friend Jeff. I brought with me two suitcases and my computer and less than $1,00o in the bank. I had no job, no car. We lived in a one bedroom apartment in Rock Hill. We fought like crazy, I was depressed and homesick and going a little crazy because I couldn’t find a job. It took me until February of 1999 to get a job; once I started to get out of the house and make some new friends things got better.
In the fall of 99 we moved into a 2 bedroom apartment in the same complex, and I bought Matthew’s old Chevy Lumina from him when he bought a new car. The next few years were up’s and down’s but we were together through it all. Including, losing my grandmother, losing my job at the bank due to a merger, getting another job at an internet start-up company only to have it go belly up a few months later, months of unemployment, a horrible job I don’t like to talk about, another job and anther layoff, Matthew changing jobs a couple times and buying a house.
We bought our house in the west county area of St. Louis in September 2002 and I was laid off again in October 2002. It took me until February 2003 to find another job, where I still work today, at Webster University.
We’ve traveled a long way together, Matthew and I; physically and emotionally. No matter what happens I know that he will be there beside me. Sure we fight sometimes, and bicker quite a bit, but to me that just proves that we still care. I see my friends go through stormy relationships and breakups and am thankful those days are behind me.
I love Matthew more than words can possibly express. He has stood by me through all of the insanity that I have thrown at him, he has been my rock through all of the bad times. I am a better person because of his love.
