Once upon a time in a make-believe land, a woman named Pied Pfeffer accidentally found herself in a public park. Sitting on a bench was an eccentric man named Rew Rossini, who was wearing a dunce cap, Groucho Marx glasses/nose/mustache/cigar, and Groucho Marx slippers. They chatted for a couple of minutes before she moved on. The next night, they happened upon each other again, and the conversation lasted longer. This happened each day for a week, and Pied realized that Rew was someone special. For two more weeks, they traveled the globe together visiting magical lands while sharing personal stories.
This all took place on a virtual internet site called Second Life. We later gave up the sight for exchanging e-mails and then moved on to web-cam. Six months later, we met in person at an airport in Washington, DC. We were both incredibly nervous…he was worried that I wouldn’t be there, and I was worried that security would whisk me away for loitering in the baggage claim area while wearing a pair of Groucho Marx glasses.
The poor chap met my family the next day. It was Mom’s annual ‘Labor Day’ weekend in May, where all family members were asked to gather for two days of yard work. Upon arrival, introductions were quickly made before someone handed him a rake and pointed to a path in the woods that was his designated spot to clear. At some point during the weekend, when we were taking a break, Rew and Mom broke out into a duet of some old WW2 English love song, and it was at that point that I knew I really wanted to spend the rest of my life with this man.
A few months later, I traveled from the US to England to see the town where he lived and meet his parents. They confirmed that he was not a serial killer or a child molester. We are now engaged.