Going The Distance

I wrote the following for a contest on Dallas-Fort Worth Moms Like Me.  It's to win some sort of Going The Distance (the new movie with Drew Barrymore and Justin Long) prize pack, but mostly I just wanted to write it out anyway.

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I suppose you mean for us to write about our long distance ROMANTIC relationships, [the contest said to write about a long distance relationship you had/have] but I'm gonna go a different direction (as I've never actually had a long distance romantic relationship) since it doesn't necessarily specific that intent.

In 1997, the internet was still relatively new to most people.  I was a sophomore in high school, and none of my friends had the internet, let alone email addresses, instant message or social networks back then.  So I ventured out into the world wide internet in search of ... whatever there was.  I had AOL, so I started checking out some of the AOL chatrooms available.  I frequented a few rooms and made a few acquaintances I chatted with on a regular basis, and one of those acquaintances had an acquaintance - and when we were introduced, there was an instant connection.  No, not a romantic connection... I already said my story isn't like that - but a definite friendship connection.  We were the same age, Christian, into music and despite all of the things we didn't have in common...we still just really hit it off.  We pretty much became inseparable.  Or... as inseparable as you can be when you live 1,400 miles away.  She lived in California and I lived in Texas.  That didn't really stop us, we chatted every day, emailed back and forth when we weren't online at the same time, we talked on the phone as well.  We went through a lot together... the rest of high school and all that drama, graduation, jobs, loves and losses, Y2K!, me getting married. 

We finally met in person in 2003...six years after meeting online!  She flew here and stayed with my husband and I.  We showed her all around the area, went to all the tourist sites and fun stuff!  I'm sure we were both nervous at that first meeting, even though we had known each other for 6 years already, meeting in person is something completely different.  But we hit it off, even face to face.  We had a great time.  About 6 months later, my husband and I went to California and she returned the favor of showing us around.  Had a great time there!  Sometime after the birth of my first child, we sort of lost touch... the chatting stopped, the emails were few and far between, we just both got really busy with life.  But, when my schedule at work changed and hers lined up with it, we once again found ourselves online at the same time and were able to chat (not on AOL this time, but thanks to Gmail and it's implanted IM!). 

We've rekindled our friendship and chat  and text pretty much every day again... it's just like the old days only we're 12 years older now!  I have two children and she is getting married next year, so we have a lot to talk about!  I hope and pray that somehow I will be able to make it to California for her wedding, as I can't imagine not being there for my BEST FRIEND on her big day!  It's amazing that someone who lives 1, 400 miles away and that I've only seen in person twice, could feel so close and so special to me, but I can't imagine life without her!

P.S. I LOVE Drew Barrymore.  Just sayin'.

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And, guess what?  I totally won the contest today!  Haha!  Thanks, dallas.momslikeme.com! I got a promotional prize pack from the movie with all kinds of silly stuff, including the movie soundtrack.  Granted, only 4 people entered, but hey... that's awesome.  Hahaha!