How We Met

in Ashley's words...

We met on the internet. There, I said it. But wait! It's far more involved than that and not at all what you think. Here's the story:

In October 2003 I was living off-campus in Santa Cruz and was perusing the internet for some pictures of pumpkins and autumnal good'ness to print and turn into "Happy Halloween!" greeting cards. I stumbled upon this random blog and photo webpage that had creatively gorgeous shots of people apple picking, climbing trees, and enjoying Fall. I became somewhat mesmerized by the pictures and continued on to this person's OTHER photo website (DeviantArt, I believe??), and not really knowing who this talented photographer was I sent a message saying, "I came across your page by accident, but I'm so glad I did! You are so talented and..." yadda yadda yadda.... ;o) Anywho, the photographer e-mailed me back saying, "Hey, thanks so much!" and he gave me his AIM screen name so we could be "buddies" and share our artwork with each other. The photographer's name was Adam Fraser.

Months go by and we innocently chat online every once in a while, talking about college life, LoL"ing over movie quotes, and other stupid stuff. I would scan and e-mail him my greeting card sketches and he showed me more of his photography. I barely knew this person, but I felt like we had an understanding--a connection of some sort--and so a genuine internet pen-pal friendship was easy and enjoyable. It took me quite some time to realize that Adam lived 3,000 miles away. I knew he went to school in some city called Lowell, but I guess I never considered asking where that was?!? It wasn't until I learned about the Lowell mills during the Industrial Revolution in one of my American Studies courses that I realized where Adam lived...and just how COOL it was that his university was in such a famously historic location!!!

In Summer 2004 and I went backpacking through Europe with some friends from high school. We stopped at many an internet cafe, where I would write / send mass e-mails to friends and family to let them all know I was alive and well and enjoying the sights and sounds of Austria, Switzerland, Italy, France, and Spain. Well, whattaya know, "agentfraser@hotmail.com" would always write me back, saying "How cool!" and asking me to keep a list of the hostels I stayed in so he could go with his friends the following summer. After 20 days abroad I came back to the states and continued correspondence with Adam, happy to have a kindly male pen-pal who appreciated travel and education as much as I.

MORE time rolls by and we still talk via AOL Instant Messenger and e-mail rather frequently. I send him postcards from Santa Cruz, and he sends me a birthday present for my 21st birthday (April 19th, 2005)! He then lets me know that he's planning a trip to San Francisco with some buddies for Spring Break and thought it would be fun to meet up for lunch or something. I said, "Yeah, totally!" because since the very beginning I had gotten good vibes over the course of our year and a half internet friendship---I could tell Adam was a neat person with a good head on his shoulders. Don't ask me how I knew this, I just did. Maybe it's that 6th sense / intuition people talk about....? Either way, I was happy with the idea of meeting my "pen-pal" in person, and so I took me friend Bri with me just to be safe (we DID meet on the internet, after all...) and on March 17th, 2005 we drove into San Fran to meet up with Adam and his friends.

It wound up being the best St. Patrick's Day EVER!!! I met Adam and his collegiate amigos Jon, Kevin, Jamie, and Matt and liked them all right away---we totally hit it off and had a blast together. We toured around the city  via bus and cable car---ate Thai food for lunch on Haight Street, looked in thrift shops, walked around Ghirradelli Square, took pictures, and drank 40 oz bottles of beer back at their hotel room in celebration of our Irish roots. By the end of the day it felt as though I had been friends with these five guys for years; they were fun and friendly, and better yet, they were accepting of me and my dreadlocks! ;o) I was stoked to now have contacts on the East Coast because I had *just* been accepted to work at a camp in Fryeburg, Maine that summer. Talk about perfect timing! After 24 hours of celebrating St. Patty's Day (I will admit that there was some flirting in Spanish and maybe a kiss or two...), we went our separate ways and vowed to keep in touch (which we did), anxious to meet up again when I flew into Boston in June '05.

June - August 2005 I worked at Forest Acres Summer Camp for Girls in Fryeburg, Maine. I got to know Adam and Jon better, for they were the ones to pick me up from the airport and help me get settled at the camp, and we hung out once a week on my day/night off. Sadly, Adam left to go backpacking in Europe in early August, but I felt glad to have strengthened our friendship and gotten to know many of his friends (and friends that he met through Jon) as well. I had an immediate liking towards everyone I met through Adam and Jon and was sad that I had to leave and go finish out my senior year at UCSC. I fell in love with New England and knew that I wanted to come back again.....and maybe even move there!!??

So we continue to all stay in touch via internet (this is finally when Facebook and MySpace enters the picture), but also by telephone as well! I fly out to Massachusetts in December 2005 to visit my groovy new friends (and meet MORE cool peeps!)---I crashed on the floor of Jon's dorm room at UMass Lowell and since Adam was in the dorm building just across the street I got to see him often. It was snowy and Christmas'y and just so much fun to be with such awesome people and see this historic part of New England in the beauty of winter. I loved it! Once again, I was sad to go back to California..... 

I graduated from UCSC in June 2006 and moved back home to San Diego, unsure of what my next move would be. I decided I would work multiple jobs to save up money so I could buy a VW Vannagon and a dog and go travel the U.S......No joke, that was the tentative plan. But Adam and Jon (and their friend Meri) had plans to fly out to San Francisco and drive down to San Diego so as to see more of The Golden State, so I stuck in San Diego, anxious to show them around sunny San Diego and put them up in my casa. So in mid-July the three of them arrive at my house and I remember it all quite vividly: I heard Adam "C'cawwww!" at the door.....I ran to the door.....I looked at him before the other two and felt a surge of utter excitement.... I opened the door and Adam scooped me up in a big hug!! It's funny to look back on that moment, because while I didn't realize it then, I now believe that THAT was the exact moment my feelings for Adam changed from friendship to a big, fat, crush with sincere like'age and admiration involved. We had been friendly pen-pals for years and hung-out in both of our home-states. We had also dated various different people over the span of our friendship. But now we were single, recent college graduates, and I guess the stars aligned in our favor because sparks flew and during his visitation we shared our feelings for one another and took a romantic stroll on La Jolla Shores at night. Due to the distance, of course, I was nervous that nothing would ever come of this and it would be the shortest summer romance ever recorded. We agreed to stay in touch as we always had and just kinda "feel it out" to see if a relationship was something we wanted to work towards. Thank gawd for the modern technology, because after he and his friends flew back home, Adam and I e-mailed and talked on the phone every day (he finally got a cell phone of his own!!!!). We even went on a "virtual date" in which Adam had flowers delivered to my door and we watched a move together while on the phone with one another <----hahaha, I know, nerd alert!! ;o) We were totally smitten for one another, but unsure as to when we would see each other again.....

Luckily, Adam's friends Kandice and Andrew were getting married at the end of September and if I was willing / able to fly out to Massachusetts, Adam wanted to take me as his date. So off to Massachusetts I went! We had a GREAT time at the wedding, and we spent the next few days of doing fun things like hiking, painting, going out with friends, and so on. Adam was in the middle of his Master's program at this time, so some days I would drop him off at class and take his car to the mall, then pick him back up when he was done with class. Nevertheless, we were so happy to be together and all bliss'ed out. On October 4th, 2006, at his house in North Chelmsford,  Adam said, "I think I'm in love with you, Ashley Springett." Of course I cried and then admitted that I was all in love with him, too. And because I had never felt this amount of love for anyone else, I knew this was it; he was "the one." I ditched my plans to be a nomad in a VW van and decided I would move to Massachusetts for not just a budding relationship, but also the change of scenery I always wanted (I was sick of living in California after 22 years) and to go to Grad School. 

Adam and I endured 9 months of long-distance relationship good'ness, and to be completely honest, it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. We were both busy with our respective jobs and hobbies, but we were able to see one another by alternating flights----I had been there in late September / early October, Adam flew to San Diego in January and then again in March, and I flew out to Massachusetts in May. Then I packed up my Jeep Cherokee, said good-bye to my friends and family in San Diego, and drove across the country with Adam and Jon! 

That, my friends, is the FULL story of how Adam and I met---the original meeting AND the in-person meeting---and how our relationship came to be. Quite the miraculous tale, is it not?! :o)