How We Met

It was a dark and stormy night...

Oops, never mind. I slipped into my English major mode for a second there. :) Anyway...

It all started one fateful day in June. I was still in Laramie because I was taking a summer class (Spanish 2030). I was in a campus computer lab, reading the latest rumors about the fourth Harry Potter book. I'd read the first book during Christmas break, and the second and third in February. By that summer, I'd reread all three books a million times, was eagerly awaiting the fourth and was a certified Harry Potter addict. :)

While looking for Harry Potter webpages on Yahoo!, I discovered that there were five or six Harry Potter Yahoo! clubs - forums where members conversed by posting messages at a common webpage. I noticed one called Harry Potter for Grown-Ups, and it immediately piqued my interest. I'd wanted to join a Harry Potter web club or mailing list, but I'd been afraid that I'd wind up in the middle of a bunch of eleven-year-olds whose posts looked something like, "i like hagrd becawse hes cool." I was looking for conversation that was a bit more up to my level. So, I clicked on the link and started reading a few posts. I was delighted - adults, having adult, mature discussions about Harry Potter! So, I signed up and began reading and posting messages regularly.

One day near the end of June, the group got into a discussion about why grown-ups enjoyed Harry Potter. One person thought it might be because we all wanted to revisit our childhoods, which sparked another conversation. (By the way, the entire record of this conversation is archived at the Harry Potter for Grown-Ups website, so feel free to go and look! You can search for messages by number, which is why I've provided them.)

One member posted a message saying that she would only go back to her childhood if she could go back knowing what she knows now. I replied to her message in total agreement. My message was as follows:

Message 2949: My biggest problems in adolescence were worrying about how popular I was and how fat I was. If I could go back, I'd say to hell with society's conventions and really *live* my life without worrying about being popular or thin. I thought that because I wasn't thin, I wasn't worth anything -- thankfully, I now know that life is NOT a dress size, and I'm perfectly happy being a size 14. I'm having the time of my life at college, and I have many wonderful friends who like me for ME, and not for what size I wear.

Soon, there was a reply to my post - a person by the ID of Jarnor23 (a.k.a. Collin Wahlund). His reply was as follows:

Message 2963: Oh, I'm in complete agreement about that. Waaay too many women are given this totally unrealistic idea about what a woman should look like. Personally, those uberthin women do NOT attract me. I know it might sound odd, but I actually prefer women who look like real women. There can even be something about a "flaw" that I find charming if the woman has a really beautiful personality that actually makes me feel the beauty of the woman is enhanced. And as much as the media would also like to make you think all men are steriotypical pigs who just want their supermodels, I'll bet you'll find a lot of guys who agree with this. Maybe not all, but then again, I've met some pretty superficial and shallow women too. ;)

Naturally, this reply astonished me. A man who didn't like the look of supermodels?? Who thought supermodels were too thin?? Was he for real?? The mischevious streak in me surfaced, and I replied with the following message:

Message 3019: Will you marry me? *grin*

I kid you not - that was my reply. Of course, at the time I was being facetious. However, Collin replied with:

Message 3064: Geez, I've never had a proposal before... er, how about a definite maybe? :)

I replied to that message with:

Message 3079: Sounds like a plan to me! :)

That, I thought, was the end of it. The next day, I went back to North Dakota. However, when I checked the board again I found his reply:

Message 3100: Sounds good by here too! So... maybe you might check your Yahoo mail for a little letter sent by electronic owl, and maybe I'll get a response back? :)

Sure enough, I checked my e-mail, and there was an e-mail from Collin! After I replied, I posted the following response:

Message 3181: I just sent an e-owl in reply! :-) I think we'd better stick to owl post rather than this board for individual messages, because I think some people might be getting annoyed at us. :) Thanks for the letter!

After that, our correspondence continued via e-mail. For a solid week, we wrote e-mails back and forth, most of them 16k or more! We talked about EVERYTHING - Harry Potter, our hobbies, our likes and dislikes, etc. During one of my e-mails I mentioned that I really wanted to go to the Harry Potter Party that the Fargo, ND Barnes & Noble was having to celebrate the release of the fourth book, but I didn't have anyone to go with and I didn't want to go alone.

Collin surprised me by writing back and suggesting that we go together. I couldn't believe that he'd be willing to drive all the way from Minneapolis just to go to a Harry Potter party with me, but he insisted that it wasn't a problem. So, I said yes. We agreed to meet beforehand and go to a movie, then to the party.

The day we were to meet was July 7, 2000. I spent that day in Detroit Lakes with my best friend, Abbi (who is my maid of honor), and confided in her that I had a date, and I was going to meet a guy that I'd met over the Internet. She was worried, but I assured her that we'd been talking for a week, and he didn't sound like an axe murderer. Besides, I was going to meet him in a well-lit place with plenty of people around (which is an excellent rule of thumb for meeting anyone from the Internet, BTW).

Later that evening, I drove back to Fargo and over to the West Acres theatre. I'm not sure if it was love at first sight, but it was definitely "like" at first sight! He gave me a hug, and it felt very natural and very right. I think the thing that made me fall in love with him, though, was while we were standing in line to get our tickets (we saw the movie "Chicken Run," and it was excellent!). He turned to me, quite suddenly, and said, "My God, you're beautiful." I think I blushed and stammered something incredibly articulate like, "Oh, um, thank you." It was the tone, not the words, that had stunned me - he sounded so incredibly sincere.

After the movie, we went to the party at Barnes & Noble. We had a lot of fun - and we talked, and talked, and talked, and talked some more. We talked so much that we ended up sitting in his car in the parking lot until 2am!

I remember thinking, as I was driving home, that I had just met the man I was going to marry.

After that, we saw each other every single weekend, until it was time for me to go back to Laramie. I didn't want to go - it was so far away! I loved the University of Wyoming, but I didn't want to be 900 miles away from Collin. However, via LOTS of phone calls and e-mails, and even a visit from Collin, our love continued to flourish and grow.

After the semester ended, I flew to Minneapolis to spend a week with Collin. Among other things, we planned to go and see the Harry Potter exhibit at Dayton's in Minneapolis. Collin had already attended, with his aunt Cheryl & her family, and said that I had to go see it. So, the day after I got there, Sunday, December 17, 2000, we went to see it.

There was almost no line, which delighted me. Collin, however, was surprised but not particularly happy about it. I wondered why, but unbeknownst to me he was incredibly nervous and wanted to spend the time waiting in line to calm his nerves!

We went through the exhibit, talking the entire time, and at the end I sighed and said, "Wow, that was fantastic!"

Collin said, "It's not over yet."

I looked around, confused, because I didn't see anything else. Collin, however, handed me his program and said, "I don't think it's in your program."

I looked at his program. He'd taped a little sheet of paper to the end that basically said the last scene was where he proposed to me.

I looked at him, and he was on one knee with a ring in his hand, saying - something. My mind was frozen! All I could think was, "A ring! He has a ring?? He has a ring!!"

Suddenly, it occurred to my still-frozen mind that I should say something! I blurted, "Yes, yes, of course! Yes!" and gave him a hug.

The rest, to use a cliche, is history. We called all of our friends and family that night and broke the happy news. Everyone was very happy for us (although I doubt my mother will ever get over the shock!).

Collin and I were married on September 1st, 2001 (the day that Harry Potter usually returns to Hogwarts via the Hogwarts Express -- which, geekily enough, was partially the reason that we picked that date, since July 31st wasn't a Saturday!), at Our Savior's Lutheran Church in my hometown in North Dakota. We're still very much in love and very happily married. Married life has had its ups and downs - but luckily more ups than downs! :)

So, that's our story. Any other questions? E-mail me!