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By
Ray Barrington
Dot Com Magazine
I'd like to take some of this space to wish my wife a Happy
Valentine's Day. And what, you may ask, has that to do with
the Internet. A lot. For that is where we met. Yes, in a
chat room. At a time when I was feeling very down about
myself, a young woman named Soulique - for a unique soul-
picked my spirits up with just her words, typed on a screen
a thousand miles away. I found myself responding. One day,
we both realized this had become something more than a chat
friendship, a pen-pal relationship via electronics. That
was in 1997. By March of 1998, we had met. A year later,
we were married. And it goes back to some things I've been
saying in this space since I started writing these pieces.
The Internet is something more, and nothing more, than basic
communication. It's something more because of the distance.
Who knew there was someone in Georgia who could understand
a cheesehead from Wisconsin? When there are news stories
- from terrorism to school shootings - in which the Internet
is reported as a tool used by those who are involved, I
have to remind myself and try to remind others that it is
just a tool, not the source. The Internet didn't put those
things in itself. People did. And although I love to tell
about meeting my wife on the Web, the important thing is
not how we met, but that we did. Since then, I've started
editing a magazine about the Internet, and it takes up time
away from her, which she understandingly gives up. And for
that, I thank her.
Ray Barrington is the editor of Dot Com Magazine. Contact
him with comments, story ideas or other correspondence (he
loves correspondence) at [email protected]
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