While many people believe in love at first site, most are shocked at the idea of some one falling in love with a person they have never met. Having been some thing of a love skeptic all my life, and having no belief in love at all after my divorce I would agree with you. Except for the fact that it happened to me.

Having suffered through a rough marriage and an even rougher divorce it took a couple of years before I even considered the possibility of dating again. When I did, I was not looking for love, but simply a new way to meet people and do new things. I joined a dating site.

While many people are disappoint in dating sites to me they were a logical solution to a problem. I wanted to get out more, have some casual dates, get to know some interesting people and keep it light. Since there were no men of my acquaintance who could offer me the type of experience I wanted a dating site seemed a perfect alternative and it was.

Over the course of a couple of years, I met some very interesting people, tried a lot of new things, and never had to worry about serious involvement because most of my on line dates were a one or two time date at most. Some of the men I met became friends and we would do things together on a regular basis but as buddies not dates, which was perfect for me.

Then one day I opened my email and there was a message from a man who lived in another state, over 800 miles away. My policy was to not get involved in long distance acquaintances as they were going to lead to dead ends. Casual dating was out due to the distance and I was not looking for any type of serious relationship especially not a long distance one.

I planned on sending this gentleman a polite but dismissive email explaining that I did not get involved in long distance relationships. However, there was something about this particular email that drew my interest and I found myself replying.

After a couple of emails, we began talking by phone, and the first time I heard his voice I was struck by two things. First, that this man had a very nice foreign accent and second his voice was so quiet and gentle that it seemed to inspire almost immediate trust.

It didn't help matters that our phone call was about every day things in our lives, and this man made no attempt to impress me with things he had done, people he had met, or places he had traveled. Instead, we spent the entire hours conversation talking about his desire to live in the country, having lived in one city or another all of his life.

When I spoke about my own experiences of growing up in the country and in small towns, there was a wistfulness in his voice that tugged at my heart strings. He asked me many questions about the pets I had growing up, what it was like to walk in the woods, and other simple things. He admitted that he yearned for the kind of life I had and even felt a touch of jealousy for my childhood adventures.

In subsequent phone calls I learned bits and pieces about his life, what it was like growing up in a big city, moving to New York, and then New Jersey. It didn't take long to realize that our growing up years were as different as night and day.

Yet, somehow I sensed in him the same disillusionment I had experienced and the same losses. But, more importantly I sensed that we felt the same about many things.

Before I knew it I was looking forward to his calls far more than I wanted too. It was then I knew that I had begun having feelings for this man I had never met.

Naturally, I rebelled against these feelings and decided when he called that night I was going to end things between us. Not only did I believe that the physical distance between us was to great for us to ever build any real relationship but, I also was determined to keep my heart to myself.

Strangely enough when he called that night the first words out of his mouth echoed my own confused thoughts. He told me he considered not calling ever again because he was starting to have feeling for me that were unexpected given our circumstances. When I told him I felt the same way, he sighed and then was silent so long I had thought he had hung up.

When he finally spoke his voice was almost resigned. He told me he was tired of being a coward where love was concerned, and although he was not looking for love when he sent that first email to me, it had somehow happened. He told me that he believed his feelings were real and he wanted to find out. Was I willing to take a chance with him?

With thudding heart, I explained that I was sure that we were both over reacting, that love could not grow between people who had never met. I gave him all the reasons why a relationship between us could not and would not work. Then I gave him permission to come for a visit.

For the next week, I changed my mind back and forth about meeting him dozens of times. I went from being excited to being almost physically sick. I must have picked up the phone a hundred times to call and cancel that visit.

Finally one day my sister asked me what I was so afraid of. “Are you afraid you will discover that your feelings for this man aren't real or are you afraid to discover that they are?” she asked.

It was then the truth hit me. I wasn't afraid to discover my feelings at all, somewhere along the line I knew I had fallen in love with this man, this stranger I had never met. I simply was afraid to face him with that knowledge.

But I did face him. We met, and except for a quick couple of weeks back in New Jersey to quit his job, and pack his things we have been together ever since.

That was 6 years ago.

I know a few things now that I would not have believed then. One is that love comes when you least expect it and the second is that you can fall in love with someone you have never met in person and in some cases that love is strong enough to overcome even your greatest fears.