My husband and I “met” on the internet. We’ve crossed paths many times for about 2 years, but we never went past the equivalence of small talks at a party with someone uninteresting. And after that it was onto someone else far more intriguing and we would forget about each other until the next time of small talks. He was going to school in State T, and I was going to school in State A; far from each other.

Then one fateful December night, there I was with my usual chat friend and typing away. I thought we were the only two not idling in the channel. Just about every person had gone somewhere with their family for the Christmas holiday and it was unusually quiet. I was telling her I was supposed to drive to State Q to do my internship but was stuck by the damn flippin’ snowstorm that affected several states. He suddenly chimed in, “hey I am living in State Q”, and then we talked (I mean, typed) briefly. It was in the wee hours in the morning already and one needs to sleep sometimes.

Next day, I’m still stuck in snow hell, so surfing and chatting on the internet I go. Eating Ramen noodles as I sit at the computer clicking away. And there he was again. We talked a little bit more, and I find out that the place I rented, is less than 5 miles from where he was staying! Unbelievable - it’s such a big metropolitan area. I didn’t know anyone in the state of Q, and since I will be there for 7-8 long months, I wanted to make some local friends. We exchanged contact info. And that was that.

I drove in the snow-aftermath highway to state Q, my new destination. Unpacked and settled in my new place. We had agreed to meet the Saturday after my first workweek. Just going out to eat. When dinner was over, we decided to go see a movie, just because neither of us had anything else to do.

Two weeks went by quickly. We were inseparable by now. We saw each other daily for the next 7 months. Then I went on a month-long vacation before school started again. He proposed within weeks of my return from the trip. And the rest, as they say, is history.

I think my life would have been written differently, if it weren’t for that particular snowstorm. And if I wasn’t such an internet junkie in college, I would have ended up somewhere else, most probably with someone else. It’s funny how things turn out sometimes. There was a Star Trek episode where it showed how one single decision would result in a million different outcomes, if that decision was made just ever so slightly different. I don’t remember the details of that episode, but I do recall it gave me quite an eerie feeling.

I am forever thankful for that snowstorm, for the internet, and most of all, to have met and married my husband. My best friend.