Part 1: how I accidentally met my man down unda
We've all heard stories about serendipitous or accidental events that lead the character(s) into unexpected adventures, encounters, etc. etc., and most of us have had at least one memorable event involving serendipity or other such random phenomena. But rarely in real life does an accidental encounter take on such a life of its own as this one has...
let me 'splain...
Late September, 2007, I woke one morning to find an e-mail from some guy in Australia, as follows:
Hi Susan,
Are you Leeway design that still is or was Lydia and Tammy?
I am / was a client.
Kind regards GB
Are you Leeway design that still is or was Lydia and Tammy?
I am / was a client.
Kind regards GB
At the end of his very polite, concise e-mail was his charter fishing company's name & their tag line, "Best Weeks Fishing On The Planet". So I replied as follows:
Hi, G -
Unfortunately, no - I never was Lydia and/or Tammy.
I am still, and probably always will be, simply Susan.
Unfortunately, no - I never was Lydia and/or Tammy.
I am still, and probably always will be, simply Susan.
Strangely, this is the 3rd e-mail I received this morning that had an Australian connection... hmmm... maybe it means I need to visit the "land down unduh" sooner rather than later. Whenever I do, I'll be sure to check out "the best weeks fishing on the planet" - sounds wonderful!
Best wishes, and I'm sure you were a pleasant client for the other Leeway design.
Susan
Best wishes, and I'm sure you were a pleasant client for the other Leeway design.
Susan
OK, I was feeling a bit silly that morning, probably out of boredom. But I didn't really expect to hear from this guy again, other than maybe a "ok, thanks for letting me know - ta ta" kind of message. Besides, not only was I quite happy and content being completely single & unattached, but I figured he must be married or "attached", and if not, then grossly unattractive, too old, too young, gay, a serial killer, or any number of assumptions of undesirability a middle-aged single woman might make to reaffirm the fact that there just are no good men out there at this age. As the Fruitcake Lady says to the 40-yr-old woman who asks advice about finding a man in her age group, "You've got a slim chance of gettin' a good man at 40... get yerself a good dawg...". I do, actually, have the most wonderful little dog, Mojo, who understands me perfectly and is an excellent roommate & companion - so yeah, why would I need a man anyway?
So later that day I received another e-mail from GB. I replied. He replied. The e-mails began to fly back and forth at a rapid-fire pace until eventually there were over 50 within the first week alone. By week 2, we had both sent numerous photos of ourselves, our homes, our friends, our dogs, etc. etc. , and the real flirting had gone into full swing.
(below is the first photo I saw of G, from one of his fishing trip reports)
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And then he called. At first G seemed kind of business-like, which took me a little by surprise, but that softened as we talked. I was so nervous, and must have come across like a stupid school girl, giggling and babbling, etc. His voice was wonderful - sexy, lovely tone, and of course sporting that delightful Aussie accent... and he was funny and interesting and seemed "real" and was very very easy to talk to. When we hung up, I was completely flushed & shaking. Oh my god... have I met (albeit virtually) the man of my dreams? By accident?
Fast forward to early December, 2007 - I boarded a plane December 4th for the 30 hour trip to go meet this most interesting and wonderful man down unda in the flesh. In the two months since we had met, several hundred e-mails had been exchanged, several hours of phone conversations had taken place, I had quit smoking and started seriously dieting and working out, and had seemingly fallen for a man via e-mail who lived 14 time zones away on the opposite corner of the planet. This trip just seemed the natural progression for this most incredible "accidental" virtual relationship. I had to see for myself - and so did he. So we did.
And it was good... very very good. And it gets even better...
(to be continued in Part 2 - "the meeting down unda")
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