"Lovely Day" - Bill Withers, 1977

Is today's subject a reference to the British weather? Not at all, sadly. We're getting rain, rain, and more rain - enough that parts of the UK are flooding again. No problems for us, thankfully.

No, the subject has to do with today's anniversary in our house!

Thirteen years ago today, a fantastic man in Hertfordshire posted a bulletin board message to a women from Houston (me!), in response to an "Introducing Myself" message on CompuServe's UK Forum. Following forum protocol, I introduced myself because, in another part of the forum, I had posted a question about the Hillsborough tragedy. I had been watching a "Cracker" episode which had Hillsborough as its root, and I didn't fully understand what had happened. The UK Forum seemed a good place to begin. (Remember that there was no "googling" in 1995!)

John didn't respond to my Hillsborough note but did to my introduction message. He was on the forum that day, because he's posted a question about an Aztec Camera song called "Killermont Street". Something about what I'd written in the introduction must have caught his eye, and he sent me a return welcome note.

One thing then led to another...

From that point on, we began corresponding by email on an almost-daily basis.

A few months later, we spoke on the phone for the first time.

In June 1996, we met in person in New York City....neutral territory, and a city we both love!

In October 1996, I made my first trip to John's home in Borehamwood.

In January 1997, John made his first trip to my apartment in Houston.

In December 2002, I moved to Britain.

In March 2005, we got engaged.

In January 2006, we got married.

And that brings us up to today's anniversary! We didn't exactly rush into things, did we?

It's not too often in one's life that one moment changes everything. Thirteen years ago today was one of those moments for John and for me!

Janet

Come see what I've been listening to at Auditory Cortex.