Ever asked a couple how they met and the reply is, “Oh, we met online.” I’ve heard it more than once. I even know a couple met online and each of their best friends came on their first date. The friends ended up hitting it off, too. And BOTH couples got married over the next few years.
Henry and I had lunch with a newlywed couple just a couple weeks ago. They, too, met online. While my sweetie and I met through mutual friends, we now boast a “we met online” story.
About 3 or 4 years ago I joined an eloop for Christian African-American homeschoolers. Somewhere in that time, I met Cynthia. She and her hubby, Jules, had relocated from WI to Charlotte, NC with their two boys, I and J. In the course of the eloop, Cynthia and I resonated on many issues, both homeschooling, family values, etc. Our boys shared an interest in having a penpal, so we exchanged addresses.
J and I have been writing to each other for about 2 years I think. T and J have been corresponding for just under I year by my recollection.
When putting together our itinerary, it was a no-brainer to find time to meet these snail mail friends face-to-face. We had to postpone our late-Thursday picnic when we realized our ETA was inaccurate. This humble and beautiful family greeted us so warmly at Beatty park just outside of Charlotte.
Cynthia mentioned that her passion is cooking and she was hard-pressed to confine our lunch to the two baskets on hand. Oh, but what a bountiful abundance of yummies were in those baskets!
Henry and Jules were in a dialog quickly. No awkwardness at all. It proved that the relationships described in Victorian literature that began via written correspondence are possible. I don’t even think the boys had a “Hi, nice to meet you,” moment. It was more of a, “Hey, let’s go play in the sand,” and off they went.
Cynthia and I spent most of our time trying to get the boys to sit still and eat their sandwiches, which were OFF THE HOOK! Cynthia, what kind of cheese was that? Oh, most yummy!
T, J, and S played with sand buckets and unearthed some frogs. G became quite the expert going down the slide. And we all enjoyed the peaceful tranquility by the pond watching the geese. G’s imitation of a goose honking was just precious!
Ideal location, enjoying old-but-new friends, and fine food. What a fabulous morning!
We did get a picture of both families, but for some reason, it didn’t occur to me to put it on my camera. I’ll have to get prints from their camera.
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