How I Met My Friend, Linda

My friend, Linda's birthday is in May and I just got the invite today, which made me think of how Linda and I met.

I'm pretty sure normal people do NOT meet like this.  -grin-

Back in the Fall of 1995 the Internet was new.  AOL was a paid service and there were chat rooms and such where you'd meet people.

No.  That is NOT how we met, but, as it turns out, we both had a friend who lived in Greenville, SC who sent me an electronic photograph with a byline tag at the bottom naming a Film Developing and Photography place in Mt. Pleasant, SC.  

Electronic photos were brand new in 1995 and not everyone had one, but after seeing one, I wanted one, of course.  I'm like that.

So...I went to the Mt. Pleasant photo place, since I lived nearby, to have a picture of my own scanned. 

Back then I was only 40 years old and I looked like this:

When I arrived at the photo place with a photo to scan, a man named Mike waited on me, and we got to talking.  I told him I was new to the area, and he ended up inviting me to lunch.  I figured a free lunch was the right price, so I accepted.  

After lunch Mike asked me if I'd like to watch a movie with him over at Linda's.  I honestly had no clue who Linda was, but I thought...uh...okay...since I wasn't working that afternoon and had nothing better to do.  We stopped by a Blockbuster store and got "Bad News Bears" on VHS and took it to Linda's house.

When we arrived Linda was in her housecoat with her hair all wet and a'snarl.  She was trying to comb through it as best she could.  She was surprised to see us, but she invited us in as Mike was a good friend of hers.  

Linda was married to David back then and they had a little girl named Emily who was in the second or third grade...second, I think.  They were all home.  David and Linda were photographers, so they worked odd hours.

We sat down and started watching the movie.  Mike said we were about halfway through the movie when he realized that Linda and I really didn't know each other.  

-laughing- 

I was thinking, this is the strangest date I've ever had.  Why would a man take me to a strange woman's house to watch a movie with her family???  It just didn't make sense, but I liked the family, so I went along with it even though I thought Mike must be crazy.

Mike thought Linda sent me into his place of work to set him up on a date!!!  -laughing-  I crack up laughing every time I think about this day.  Too funny.  I told him I didn't know Linda, but Mike did not believe me.  -rolling on the floor laughing-

That is how I met Linda 22 years ago come Autumn.  Linda and I have remained good friends all these years.  We used to go sailing together on her husband, David's sailboat every Sunday.  That stopped a few years later when the sailboat became a victim of the divorce, but it sure was fun while it lasted, and I met a lot of people on that sailboat who later became good friends.  I also learned a lot about sailing.  Bonus!

After Linda and David's divorce, Linda and I still remain friends.  We see each other when we can and always enjoy each other's company.  

Emily grew up and became an attorney in the Atlanta area.  

Mike passed away some years ago.  It still makes me sad to think about Mike being gone.  He was a good friend too.

I have more photos from this time in my life, but I will have to find and scan them.  Hopefully after I retire I'll have time to scan all my thousands of photos.  I even have pictures of Mike, David, Linda, and Emily from that time period.  

Those were the days, my friends.  Those were the days.