Scared

My son just turned 9. He sometimes relates his apprehensions to going back to his bedroom after dark alone because he's afraid of what he can't see. That reminds me of when I was little. Alone in my bedroom at night, if I thought I saw a shadow in the dark or heard a strange sound, I would freeze. My logic: if I played dead, the boogieman would leave me alone.

Meeting My Wife

I remember the first time I met my wife. July 5, 2004. I had a new laptop and was installing the various applications and programs. After installing Yahoo! Messenger, I dropped into a chat room to check things out. Scanning through the chat room members, I noticed a name, missnicegirl21. I sent her a simple "hi" message and she replied. We made small talk only. She was 21 and from the Philippines. Said she was at an internet cafe and couldn't stay long and asked if we could email each other. I didn't give it much thought since I was more than twice her age but thought, "hey, it's a new friend from half way around the world". We exchanged email addresses and that was pretty much it. About 15 minutes of chat. Little did I know that the few emails we exchanged in the next 4 months would lead to almost daily chats and about a year and a half later, would be my first trip overseas to visit her.