I Got Zapped

My sister and I were neighbors. One day as I walked on the road between my sister's house and my decrepit trailer, I glanced over at my old clunker of a car. I didn't know which way to turn. I had money troubles up to my eyeballs and a car that was breaking down every month. Helping my sister babysit her grandchildren added a little money to my income, but not enough to keep that old jaloppy running.

I needed a new car but couldn't get one because my ex-husband ruined my credit. Long story short, he took out credit cards in my name and maxed them out to the limit. Then he took off, leaving me high and dry with no way to pay those bills. Ruined credit aside, I was glad to be alone again. He was a royal pain in my backside.

As I walked down the road, I looked at the car in my driveway. I thought, what am I going to do about you?

Suddenly, I felt a zap inside my head. It was like a shock of electricity to my brain. An MRI of my brain would later show a lesion which I suspected caused the zap. That zap changed my life forever. I looked at my car again. Can you do anything about it? I thought. No? Then stop worrying about it. That thought is now my credo. I felt the weight of the world lift from my shoulders.

That's not the end of my story, it's just the beginning. That zap did more to me than I realized. I also became more daring and started accepting myself as I was. It did something in seconds that years of counseling never had.

Not long after, while on Facebook, I got an invitation to a new website. It was called MEETME. Advertised as an offshoot of Facebook and a way to make new friends, I thought this could be fun. I signed up. There were a lot of creeps, per usual on the internet, but there were a few exceptional people too.

One unique man caught my eye. He called himself a hippy, but he was down to earth a real traditionalist. He was distinctive among a sea of reprobates. I wanted to become his friend, so I started following him and commenting on his posts. After a while, we also became friends on Facebook and started chatting with each other frequently.

I was so intrigued by this man that I wanted to meet him. He was bright, intelligent, and never once asked me to send him nude pictures of myself. That was something nearly every other man I came across on the site had done. Gross! I needed to meet him to see if he was in person what he seemed to be over the internet. But was I brave enough to do this? He lived nearly 400 miles away.

If my mother were still alive, she most likely would have been able to talk me out of it, but she had passed away. I was making this decision alone. Well, my son helped.

I told David (the man I wanted to meet) that I was thinking of making the trip to meet him and asked if he would like to meet me, to which he answered yes. We started making plans. I can't imagine ever having done this before the zap.

I talked to my son about it.

He said, "Be careful you don't end up in his freezer." But otherwise, he was ok with it.

I joked with David about that.

He commented, "My freezer isn't big enough for a person to fit into."

That made me laugh.

I told my sister about wanting to meet him. She only said to be careful.

David and I pulled some money together, and we rented a car. The date of my trip was going to be February 15th.

My sister handed me mace the day before my trip. She said, "Just in case."

My son drove me to the car rental place. It was bitterly cold that day, but nothing was going to stop me. Besides, the car had a heater, and I took out towing insurance just in case I broke down on the way.

Armed with two 2 liter bottles of Mountain Dew and sugary snacks to keep me alert for the six-hour drive, I started on my journey. I texted David before I pulled out of the parking lot to let him know I was on my way.

I chronicled my journey by pulling off along the side of the road, taking pictures, and posting them on Facebook along the way. At each stop, I sent a text to David to let him know where I was.

When I got to David's house, he came out, put his hand behind my neck, and kissed me. I melted, I was his; we had a wonderful few days together.

After a few more trips, we agreed we wanted to be together. I sold my place and moved in with David.

The day I moved in, he gave me an engagement ring and said, "This is my promise to you."

All I could say was, "Oh my God. Oh my God." That was my version of "yes".

The happily ever after of the story is that we are still together after nearly nine years, and I have never been so happy.