17th Century Love for a 21st Century Gal

I am a VERY liberated and independent woman. During my teenage years my mother was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis and I had to start helping run the house. MS causes a person to seem "normal" for periods of times and then BAM they become symptomatic. I learned to cook, do the laundry, and even help pay the bills. When I turned 16 I started to work at Target (a retail store close to my house) and often used the money I earned to buy household supplies and clothing for my brother and I. Many times I would work full-time even though I was still in high school so that we would be able to have the extras in life we where used to. Then when college came around I earned some scholarships, worked two to three jobs at a time, continued to help at home when needed, and paid my own way through 6 years of academic disaster. I will never forget a conversation my father and I had in the car one day. Maybe I was complaining about tuition, or who knows, but somehow we got on the topic of me having to pay my own way. Dad told me then that even if he couldn't pay for my education, he was giving me the best lesson of all. Learning to be independent and self sufficient. Now, years later, I remember those words as a embark on a journey most people only dream of. I have sold virtually everything I own, packed up the rest, quit my tenured job, and even given away my beloved dog. ME, the independent woman leaving all the stability in the world behind for the love of a man. Am I independent or CRAZY????

First you have to understand that I have NEVER really been in love before. NO man has swept me off my feet EVER!!! Heck, I was too busy being independent to let them, seriously. If you told me just a year ago today that I would be leaving to "take care of" two grown men, dress in 17th century clothes, and rely on MEN to provide for me... I would tell you that you were NUTS. Only insanely dependent women HAVE to have a man to make them whole, and I am NOT one of them!!!!! So that being my previous attitude, what changed????

Remember how I told you that Bluefish likes to pretend he is in the English Civil War (or did I mention that)? To make a long BORING war story short... (hehehehe sorry Fruit Loop!) The King and the Parliament (like our Senators) got mad at each other and decided to fight it out to see who was "king of the hill". Now, centuries later... grown men like to dress up and pretend to shoot each other like the battle is still going on. AND can you believe it, GIRLS go too!!!! PLUS - they actually enjoy it! hehehehehe OK, I admit it - I am one of those girls who LOVES to participate. :-) These reenactors spend countless hours and lots of cash on bringing the 17th century to life. They literally immerse themselves in the lifestyle and often these tendencies spill over into their "real" life as well. It was these idiosyncrasies that melded Bluefish to my heart.

Personally I wanted to send him a card in the mail so he would know I was thinking of him. I was so excited to drop it in the mail and couldn't wait for him to text me or email me when it arrived. Nope, Bluefish had another idea. He wanted me to know that he received the letter by his replying to the letter in kind. Basically I would have to wait to get one BACK from him to know it was delivered safe and sound. Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr I wanted to know the SECOND that card arrived! While we waited for the card to cross the Atlantic, Bluefish got all romantic and dreamy about its arrival..... This card will be the first item we have both touched. I will be able to see something you have written by hand just for me. Did you include a lock of your hair? WHAT!!!!!!!!!! STOP THE PRESSES, a lock of my hair! Is he some collector serial murderer who goes around getting locks of hair from women, then when he meets them he kills them??? Does he want my DNA so he can clone me?? You know they cloned Dolly the sheep in England. SICK I tell you, the man is SICK! hehehehehe NOPE he is just MY SOLIDER living in the wrong century and it was sooooo ROMANTIC that he wanted my curl that I immediately got my aunt to help me cut the perfect one and dressed it with ribbons. (Softly sighing and I recall the moment...) I was so pleased to be able to send him a part of me all the way across the pond. I felt like a young girl sending her solider boy a token of her devotion.

Well, the days were passing and Christmas was soon approaching. Ta-Da I had a package in the mail from England! DARN! I can't open the wrapped gifts until CHRISTMAS! grrrrrrr hehehehehehehe So I impatiently waited all the while smelling the card, caressing it, and reading it over and over... My solider boy had actually touched this, wrote this for me, and mmmm that was so wonderful to think about..... FINALLY Christmas arrived and I was able to open my gift. AMAZING... this man is truly a 17 century lad in a 21st century world. Wrapped so nicely in maroon/gold foil paper was a white gold heart locket containing his photo AND strands of his hair. I couldn't stop smiling and since only take it off when I bath. Think... I get to wear his photo next to my heart everyday AND a piece of his DNA! While everyone else I know thinks it is GROSS and WEIRD, I think it is the most romantic, thoughtful, and enduring gift I have ever received. Now Fruit Loop and I are truly "with" each other even though we are thousands of miles apart.

Now can you see why this 21st century independent gal is ready to fly the ocean blue to take care of her 17th century solider boy?

My heart was stolen...

On November 28, 2008 I received a "quick mail" on MFO (the website I was using to meet guys from other countries) that read, 'Nice Pic!' from a man called Bluefish. Being the friendly type I had vowed to reply to everyone that contacted me and check out their profile. Hmmmm... Very attractive, friendly message, likes the outdoors - especially camping, and builds stuff. Now what kind of woman is he looking for..... Lively and outgoing- HEY that is me!, likes children - I'm a teacher!, not to serious - Does that mean silly?, and non-smoker - Alright! So without further thought I wrote back a flirty message in the hopes of adding him to my growing row of sticky notes. Little did I know at the time, but I had just made FIRST CONTACT with my One True Love. (sighing with googly eyes)

Can I tell you a secret? It wasn't love at first type. Don't tell Bluefish though because for him all it took was my smile. Well, that is what he tells me! Really - I am not just bragging. hehehehe No, for me it was slow and steady. The kind of love that creeps up on you when you are least expecting it then OUCH it bit me!!! When I dived into Bluefish's (that sounds funny) profile and read his answers to all the questions they ask, I was impressed. He claimed to be caring, compassionate, deep, generous, patient, sincere, supportive, romantic, passionate, jovial.... should I go on? SERIOUSLY girls, is he just full of himself or what? This cannot be real! If all of this is true, why hasn't he been claimed already and locked in a bedroom somewhere?! Should I give him the benefit of the doubt and find out for myself? Heck, I am just doing this for fun right? So I decided to pursue this relationship and see who Bluefish REALLY was.

We started out just swapping chats on MFO, but quickly we also added emails. Bluefish would send numerous photos with every email and started to share his life with me from the very beginning. Pictures of his home, family, hobbies, and work poured in and I began to see that Bluefish WAS a man that I could see myself with and did live up to his profile. One thing that he shared with me was his love for reenactment of the English Civil War (hey, did you know that they had a civil war too? lol). This was not on his MFO information because he had been advised that it might turn women off. NOT! In fact it SOLD me on him. I love history, drama, and camping. Guess what? Reenactment is a hobby that combines all three. Suddenly Bluefish was starting to stand out from the crowd. Innocent flirting became serious flirting and the quest for getting to know him turned into a crusade.

Days passed and we added Skype ( http://www.skype.com/ is a video conferencing site that lets you be there without leaving!) to our form of electronic communication. Now we kept in touch by MFO, email, texts, and live video feed! What in the world? Isn't the 21st century form of dating insane?! Being able to see each other added a new element to our budding romance. Let me tell you - I was SCARED to death the first time I talked to him on the camera! In fact I kept twisting my rolling chair and didn't look at him in the face! ME, the non-shy girl was SHY!!!! Then, to make matters worse, I couldn't understand over HALF of what he was saying. hehehehehe Yes, I only speak American - not English. BUT wow was that accent SEXY and his eyes, that grin, and his calm manner.... I was soon at ease in front of the camera with Bluefish and completely swept off my feet.

Oh....did I tell you all of this happened in about THREE WEEKS?

It was a hard choice...NOT!

If you know me at all (or even just read my bio) you realize that books are SO important to me. As a teacher one of my favorite things to do is turn reluctant readers into passionate ones. Most days I am reading multiple pieces and I am ALWAYS desperately seeking a sequel! In fact, when I was young and innocent (ok, no wise cracks please!) I used to dream about the man I would marry and he was always a reader. Someone I could talk books with, snuggle up to as we read to each other, and share our love for reading with our children. OK - take all of this into consideration. Which guy should I choose? Door # 1 "Yes, I've read all of Dan Brown's books." or Door #2 "Hmm... the last book I read?"

When it came down to the final decision, love of reading was the last thing I cared about. Instead it was how this man declared his interest in me and his willingness to invite me into his life that stole my heart right away from Reader Boy. Yes, Door #2 was the ultimate winner and by more than a horse's head! As much as I enjoyed talking to Reader Boy, and yes flirting with him, it always seemed like a true "internet" relationship. Stories were shared, long hours were spent exchanging emails, and books were discussed. BUT he never opened his REAL life to me. Heck, I didn't even know what he looked like! The only thing that I actually liked about him was that he could talk books, my normal language. So when my heart had made it's choice I sat down to write Reader Boy a Dear John email and severed the relationship.

With Quiet Boy it was just the opposite. In fact I was afraid he was truly insane and might be a closet stalker!!! Well not really, but I was not used to such honesty, thoughtfulness, and enthusiasm. Presently, as I look back at our first emails and conversations (hey I am a scrapbooker so I save ALL memorabilia for future documentation), I can't believe how quickly he proclaimed his love for me! Seriously, what if I was a total FREAK just pretending to be normal? Hey, what if HE was the FREAK???? hehehehe I was swiftly romanced with lovely words, numerous photographs, and sappy nicknames. No, he was no freak, but he was freak'n crazy for me! How could my little heart resist?

PSST.... See that photo? How could any of the guys resist me???? hehehehehehehehehe (I am doing my wicked laugh now!)

How did this all happen?

My life revolved around SCHOOL. My classroom where I was the teacher and the classrooms I sat in as a student. I spent most of my time scrapbooking, watching TV, reading, and visiting with family. The most important person in my life was my dog, Penny. AND I had decided that I was going to be a fulfilled woman without a MAN or CHILDREN of my own. Sure I enjoyed men and definitely innocent flirting so why not let my girlfriends sign me up for Make Friends Online? (www.makefriendsonline.com/) What is the harm in making friends with guys from other countries? You never have to meet them and you can have an adventure without leaving your computer! So the madness began... As I have never had a shy bone in my body I immediately made friends with about 10 guys from across Europe. It became so complicated I had to make post-it-notes for each of them and attach them to my hutch!!!! After about a week I had decided that four of the guys where rather interesting and we might have a REAL connection. Don't get all excited... I was still just in this for FUN and had no intentions of ever meeting them REALLY in person. Well the decision was just too hard - I enlisted the help of the entire faculty at my school! LOL As the days passed two men stood out to everyone. One was an AVID reader, great conversationalist, and very open-minded. The other was a non reader, quiet, and opinionated! hmmmm..... who stole my heart?