Nothing But Net

by Little Darling

I got my computer about three years ago. I was married with one daughter, 6. I was miserable with my husband, he was a slug who never did anything but go to work and then get on the computer. My husband got me interested in chatting because he always did and then when I wasn't working my two jobs I would get online and check out the different chatrooms.

One day I was in this chatroom and started talking to this guy, Joker. He was really nice and hysterically funny. He ripped people who were stupid or rude in the chatroom and even "nuked" somebody offline that was mean to me.

We started talking every day whenever I was home. He worked in computers so he was online a lot more than I was, but I would race home to talk to him. We still went in the "room" and made some good friends. I started going in as "Lady Joker." We would spend some time in there and then we would "poof" and just talk together on ICQ.

This went on for a while and then we started talking on the phone AND talking online. We got closer as my marriage finally was coming to an end. My husband went to meet some woman he met online and I was hoping he would never come back. Joker and I talked every single day. Our phone bills were insane because he lived in Montreal and I lived in Michigan. We didn't care - we just kept talking. After months of this we decided we couldn't keep this up and needed to meet. He came down to see me for a long weekend. I had my friend in the next town cover for me and said I was staying with her.

From the moment Joker and I met, we knew we had to be together. We both cried when it was time for him to go home. We kept talking and making our plans as the weeks passed. I drove up to see him, 14 of the longest boring hours I ever spent in a car; but it was worth it once I was with him. I made a few of these trips while he finished his plans to move down here to be with me. He had a really good job as a computer programmer for hospitals so it was tough for him to leave. Not only that, but he was living with another girl when we first met.

We eventually got everything worked out and I went up to get him and bring him back with me. We were stopped at the Canadian border for over an hour and they nearly didn't let us go through.

Finally across the border we made it back to Michigan. We found a townhouse to move into with my little girl (who adores Joker). I battled my way through an ugly divorce, but I guess there aren't any easy ones.

We fought through miles of red tape over his working in the US and thousands of dollars with attorneys.

The most important thing is what happened at Christmas. Joker and I were married on December 23, just at city hallÉbut now we are officially Mr. and Mrs. Joker. I wish they could put that on my credit card, because now my full name is too long to fit.