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 Craig&
Valerie's Page
How
it all happened...
Let's begin with how
we two crazies managed to find each other in this wide, wide world...
Craig:
"Let me see...
Well, it was early February of 1997. I was in the final year of
my B.Eng. course in Chemical Engineering, and not enjoying it. :(
I had taken a break to check my email and read one from my friend
Fizz telling me to try a new chat he'd found. I duly met him there
later that day...which became my first visit to Alamak.
"We chatted for
a while but he had to leave after around an hour so I decided to
go exploring a little. The first room I came to was the Britain
channel on the then Server 2. I remember watching for a while to
see what was being talked about as I was all-in-all pretty new to
the chat and curious as to how the place compared to the few I'd
seen before. I noticed that someone named Ananda had said something
about wanting a Scotsman... she'll remember it more clearly I'm
sure.. and I replied that I was one and would she like me?...or
something along those lines...and we began to talk.
"I don't remember
too many details about the rest of our conversation that day but
I do know that we talked about a *lot* of things... favourite this
and that... backgrounds... all the usual stuff... I ended up rushing
off to catch the latest train I'd ever had to go for when leaving
Uni., up until then that is."
Valerie:
"First let me
explain how *I* happened to be in Britain that day. It all started
when I met a young lady by the nick of "sassenach" (which
means outlander or English person in gaelic) in the Think Cafe on
Alamak's server 1. TheThink Cafe was having a lot of problems those
days (read: Religious Wars) and being a non-religious person, I
decided it was time to find a new hang-out. sasse and I had expressed
our mutual interest in Scotland, and Scotsmen in particular (I've
got Scot roots and have always been fascinated with the culture
(and the men in kilts *wink*)). One day, sasse came into the Cafe
and sent me a /msg 'hey girlie, come over to Server 2, there's a
Britain channel and there's Scottish guys there!!!!!' so of course,
I followed her there! Since I wasn't working at the time, I started
spending pretty much all of my waking hours there in the Britain
channel (those who know me will believe this to be quite true, I'm
a bit of an addict (okay, maybethat's an understatement? *grin*)).
Anyway, I made a lot of new friends there (including a couple of
Scots) and eventually was elected to join the Operator Committee.
I was given the Britain Channel to monitor, which meant I was supposed
to spend a lot of time there, and of course I was*quite* happy to
do so.
"That fateful
day I was chatting with a bunch of friends when I got a /msg
from some guy, I can't remember if he was Singaporean or Malaysian,
but he sent me a private message that was something like 'how would
you like a (insert country name here) master?' I laughed about it
on the open channel, mentioning what the guy had said. Suddenly,
I got another message from this guy named Chandy, which said 'How
would you like a Scottish master?'. Well, little did HE know he'd
said the magic word... Scottish! *hehehe* So, I /msg'd him back,
I don't remember what, but it got the ball rolling and we ended
up talking in a private room for a while, just getting to know each
other. It turned out that despite an age difference of 9 years,
we've got a lot in common."
Craig:
"It's not really
9years...more like 8 and a quarter..*grin*"
Valerie:
(Actually it's 8 and
3/4)
"We didn't talk
again for a week or two, and he sent me a couple of emails, trying
to meet up with me again. Since I'm *so* bad about sending email,
I don't think I ever really responded, but we met up again another
day and continued getting to know each other. At first, I'll have
to say I wasn't *really* attracted to him, but as we got to know
each other better, I started to realize that I really liked him,
and thought something serious could develop. Craig, being so bored
with his studies, started spending a lot of time on the chat with
me, and when I say *a lot* I do mean *A LOT*. There were days that
we spent upwards of 14 hours together online. We talked about everything
under the sun, and there seemed to be very little in which our opinions
differed. I was going through a rough time in my life, and Craig,
being the sweet guy that he is, really helped me by talking things
out. I soon began to fall in love with him, and shocked him by telling
him so. He was a little skeptical about it, but a few days later
he admitted maybe he was in love with me too."
Craig:
"I wouldn't say
I was shocked when you told me... more surprised...*very* pleasantly
surprised...I remember I spent the next two or three days just marvelling
that you actually Loved me... I can recall exactly where I was when
I realised thatI Loved you too... on a train on my way into town
to chat with you as usual..."(Btw... In case you were wondering...I
believe that Love should always have a capital letter.. :) )
"She really *was*
bad at sending me emails... I used to think in the beginning that
maybe she didn't like me after all but I grew to know that it's
just part of who she is...and that she never sent emails to *anyone*...
Thankfully though I became one of the few who she *did* send mails
to...and as we got more serious she got a lot better about sending
them... probably in some part due to my sending her *LOTS* of emails
myself whenever possible...*grin* What was the record again hun...?"
Valerie:
(22 in one day!!!!!)
"During this
time I was living in Florida, but I had to move because it was just
too expensive for me to live there (especially with no job). I called
my sister in Tennessee and arranged to come up and stay with her
with the objective of finding a job and getting back on my feet.
I spent about a month looking around and finally found a job with
a small company, working in the Customer Service dept. Craig and
I spent as much time talking as we could, though it was hard sometimes
since there is a 6 hour time difference between us. I'd get up at
2 in the morning and we'd chat until about 7:15 when I'd have to
start getting ready for work. I'd work until 6:30pm, come home,
go straight to bed, get up at 2am again the next morning. On the
weekends we'd spend all day (and sometimes all night) online together.
"As soon as we'd
admitted we were falling in love, we knew we had to meet, but with
Craig being in school still, we had to wait until he'd graduated.
Thankfully, that wasn't*too* far off. I think I'd have gone crazy
if I'd had to wait more than a few months. As it was it was bad
enough! We made arrangements for Craig to visit the United States
in July, just after his graduation ceremonies.
"On July 13th,
the day of Craig's arrival, I was a basket case. I was *sooooo*
nervous. I mean, I'd seen his pictures and from all the time we'd
spent chatting, I felt like I really knew him, but *did* I really
know him? I was soooo worried he wasn't going to like me after seeing
me in person. Of course, he was having the same worries... "
Craig:
"I remember walking
down the off ramp from the plane.. .among the last to leave and
regretting not using the bathroom before I arrived..*grin* .. when
I suddenly saw her standing near the end of the passageway waiting
for me. The first thought to enter my head was, 'Well, here goes'...
then I walked straight towards her and we embraced... We stood there
for a few moments, Valerie's head buried into my chest as we held
each other.. She said "I Love you" andI said "Umm..sorry,
what'd you say?"..which embarassed the hell out of me... then
she repeated herself and I held her closer and told her I Loved
her too.. We broke apart, joined hands, and walked about twenty
yards when I told her I was really sorry but I *had* to use
the bathroom and I'd be back in a minute..*grin* I can clearly remember
standing drying my hands at the machine and either thinking or saying,'It's
really her', smiling.. thengoing back out and taking her hand again..
I'm sure that at several points during all of this I kissed her
softly in several places.. but I think my heart was beating too
fast then for me to remember..*grin*"
Valerie:
"As I'd no idea
how long it would take me to get to the airport, I left early (in
my haste I forgot my wallet). I ended up getting there 45 minutes
early so I went to his gate and sat down, trying to calm myself.
I don't even really remember the drive to the airport, I just know
I was *realllllly* nervous. When the plane arrived and people started
disembarking, I stood up and began to watch for him. I was really
worried that I wasn't going to recognize him, even though I'd seen
several pictures. That fear grew as more and more people left the
plane and I still hadn't seen him... The passengers trickled down
to one or two at a time, then finally, I saw him, coming up the
ramp alone. I smiled and he glanced up and saw me, and a big smile
broke out across his face as well. He came up to me and we hugged,
then I looked up into his eyes. I don't think *I* initiated
that first kiss really, I think it was a mutual thing :o). Anyway,
with that initial terribly fearful moment overwith, we grabbed hands
and started walking down the airport hallway. Craig spied the restroom
and made his apologies, and left me standing in the hallway waiting
for him. I stood there thinking'he's finally here!!!!!!'. "
"After he came
back out, we walked down to the luggage return. I noticed we were
getting some strange looks from a few of the other passengers, but
I really didn't care! We kept kissing and giggling and I guess just
marvelling in the reality of each other's presence. His luggage
came out fairly quickly, and we headed for the parking lot. When
we got to the lot, I opened up my trunk and put his luggage in.
When I closed the trunk, I noticed he was standing by the driver's
side door of the car. I said to him "Oh, you think you're driving
do you??" He gave me a sheepish grin and walked around to the
other side of the car. We both got in, and started our journey back
to my house. About half an hour down the road I realized *why* he'd
been standing on that side of the car, and I started laughing. He
said "What are you on about???" so I told him, and we
both had a good laugh. At this point I realized I was almost on
empty, and of course I had no money because I'd left my wallet at
home. My turn for embarassment... We'd been together scarcely an
hour and I had to borrow some money from him for gas!!! It was a
good thing I'd told him to exchange some money before he came over,
in case of an emergency!"
"We stopped at
a gas station, and he asked me how much I'd need, I told him $5
or $10, then said that $10 would fill the tank. He gaped at me!
*laugh* He just couldn'tbelieve that gas was *so* cheap. I guess
that was my first little thrill in showing him the US."
Craig:
"Strangely enough,
I didn't notice anyone looking at us... although I could easily
just be forgetting. The whole episode seems something like a dream
which I livedt hrough, although it's dream which I can still remember
vividly. I simply couldn't believe that it would only cost her the
equivalent of £6 to fill her car, and that was from almost
empty! It wasn't as if the tank was small either! At the time the
same amount of petrol in Scotland would have cost around £25,
which is around $40!! Unbelievably, since thenit's actually been
getting a little *cheaper* for her! While here it's risen to around
the £30 mark... But I digress...
"It was a *really*
strange experience for me driving back to 'our' place for that first
time; seeing all those shop signs that I'd only even seen on TV
and in films before, such as Taco-Bell, etc. And the huge big highways
that we drove on.. I couldn't believe they had a huge concrete wall
between the flows of traffic! That seemed to me like about the dumbest
idea I'd ever come across... and it still does..*grin* I remember
that we held hands almost the entire time, and I occasionally plucked
up the courage to lean acrossand kiss her... where exactly I can't
remember! :) After detouring through McDonalds we eventually arrived
home after around 90 mins. or so...to find the house in the tidiest
state I'd ever see it..*grin* We went over to the couch and sat
and ate while we talked... I have *no* idea what about...We spent
a lot of that night and most of the next day, which Valerie had
taken off of work, literally in each others arms... and, for me
at least, happy at last..."
Valerie:
"Craig had arranged
to stay in the U.S. for 90 days, the longest he could stay without
getting a Visa. He hadn't applied for a Visa because at the time
we weren't sure how we'd get along together. Not getting one turned
out to be a big mistake which I'll go into a bit later...
Nearby, there is a
National Park that extends through three states, it's called The
Natchez Trace. It is the route that Louis and Clark took on their
expedition. The Natchez Trace Parkway is a wonderfully scenic drive
and was also a good place for me to take Craig and let him get his
first experience at driving on the RIGHT side of the road *grin*.
There were a few tense moments when he'd make a turn off one road
onto another and start heading for the wrong side of the road. Thank
goodness the Trace is never very busy. After letting him drive there
a few times I decided he was ready to drive out in general traffic.
There were a few other times he scared me though... Driving the
Trace also started us on a little weekend tradition where we'd go
looking for waterfalls. There are several on the Trace, but they
are small. One weekend we drove to Fall Creek Falls. It was a nice
trip but getting down to the foot of the Falls was a bit of a chore.
And it turned out to be a bad time to go because the Falls weren't
quite as spectacular as I've been told they can be. Being high summer,
the water was pretty low. We had a great time swimming around in
the pool at the foot of the Falls though. The next weekend, I decided
to surprise him and planned a camping trip. On Friday when I got
out of work, we drove over to my sister's house, with Craig still
oblivious to what was going on. I got a tent from my sister and
we went to Wal-Mart and got some supplies then we drove to a HUGE
state park called The South Cumberland Recreation Area. It turned
out to be a wonderful trip. If you like hiking, I highly recommend
this place. we spent all day Saturday and Sunday hiking and taking
pictures. We encountered several waterfalls, with one especially
fun one that was small but had a ledge behind it where you could
sit. When we returned home I talked to my sister about all the waterfalls,
and she asked me if we'd been to Rattlesnake Falls yet. Here we'd
been driving all over the state looking for waterfalls and it turned
out that we had a really spectacular one almost in our backyard.
In fact when I first moved to the state I was living literally within
walking distance of this particular waterfall and never knew it
was there. She told us how to get to the falls, so we drove there
the next weekend. It turned out to be a regular hangout for us.
We tried to spend
as much time together as we could though it was tough because I
was working from 8:30am to 6:30pm. I'd come home tired, and though
I was working hard I still wasn't making enough money to pay all
the bills. I decided to take on a 2nd job delivering newspapers
in the wee hours of the morning. It turned out to be a mixed blessing...
I was making more money than the other job, and Craig was able to
ride along with me and help me deliver the papers so we got to spend
more time together. After a couple weeks I decided to quit the daytime
job. We took on a second route and did well at it. It also left
our daytime hours free so that I could take him around and show
him a bit more of the area.
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