For those who don't know, I have this friend named Lisa. We met online when we were both 16 - fall of '99 - through several channels of The Moffatts internet fandom. I found her personal webpage, read her 'about me' section, and was so startled at our similarities that I emailed her and told her that we should be friends. She lived in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, and I lived in New Jersey, but that's why the internet is so amazing - it allowed such a proposition to not sound entirely ludicrous.

And so, we were. Short getting-to-know-you emails turned into longer, more heartfelt ones, into handwritten letters, into cassette tape letters, even video tours of our homes and towns for the other to see. It's nearly impossible to articulate how close of a bond we had to each other, having never met, or had a fluid spoken conversation (we spoke on the phone a couple times, but back then without cell phones we had to appeal to our parents' long-distance plans and it all seemed too much trouble when we could just type online)... but there were times when I felt that no one understood me but her.

We've had our growing pains, as most friends do - as we were finding ourselves in our own environments it put a strain on our already limited relationship and threatened to tear us apart - but as we've always felt somewhat connected (we used to joke about being each other's doppelgangers) so it happened that we were inexplicably drawn back to each other, and since then have been with each other in mind and spirit as we've grown from doe-eyed teenagers to full-fledged young women.

I'm writing all this because today, Lisa and I will meet for the first time since we 'met' online on September 29, 1999. She and her husband are taking a Northwestern US vacation, and will be spending the weekend with us in Portland. These events - their trip and my move - could not have been more timely, and as it has been with the way things have classically worked out for us, it seems to have been written out that way on purpose.

I eagerly await her arrival, and will be sure to detail our time to come. :)