When I first met Beth, she wasn't Beth, and I wasn't Anton.
It was the spring of 1990, and we met on a MUD. A "mud" (often capitalized) is a sort of multi-player adventure game, or at least a shared world; it stands for "multi-user dungeon" or "multi-user dimension." Simplified, it's a place where you can create a character which you control: moving, talking, etc. The type of MUD I was involved with was a TinyMUD; I'd become fascinated by the ability to create my own additions to the world, and found that it was easier for me to make new friends there than in real life; I'm rather shy, and tend to be uncomfortable around strangers.
My character was named Tarrant (after the first Tarrant to appear in the TV series Blake's Seven, not the hero of the later shows). Beth's was named Irielle, after a character from Marion Zimmer Bradley's book, The House Between The Worlds. We first got to know each other then, though at the time both of us were closer to others, and we didn't even think about meeting each other in real life. I left school in 1991, and didn't spend much time on the internet for a few years. Beth moved to another state and another school.
It was the fall of 1993 when we started talking again. Beth was in school, and I had started a computer company with some friends. I found myself with a lot of free time in the evenings, and started spending time online again. Beth and I had exchanged messages once in a while before that; at first, we were rarely on at the same time, so we'd leave messages for each other with a friendly robot. Finally we found ourselves both logging in at night, and were able to have real conversations. We started by reminiscing about the "good old days" of MUDs, and by exchanging stories about what our mutual friends were doing now. Soon we found that we had a lot in common, and that we were really comfortable talking with each other. That was when we finally became friends.
In 1994, I flew down to Mississippi State University (where Beth was in school) a couple of times. It was the first time we'd met in person, though we had some mutual friends. We got along pretty well in person, and had a good time. I also met two of Beth's roommates, one of whom (also named Beth) is now married to another friend of mine whom she met over the internet. Actually, Beth and I put them in touch. It's a small world.
Beth moved to Minnesota, where I was living, in early 1995. It was great to have her around. I showed her the area, shared my books with her, and generally did my best to convince her that she might want to stay here despite the snow and ice (it was still winter). I introduced her to my parents, relatives, and friends, and she survived. My partners and I offered her a job with the company I'd started, and she's been a great help to us ever since.
I proposed to Beth on February 17, 1996. The date will always stick in our memory because the disc jockey on WOJB (the local Native American radio station) was firmly convinced that it was Saint Patrick's Day, and was playing lots of Irish music. We were in my parents' cabin, near Cable, Wisconsin, with deer feeding in the back yard. Beth accepted, and I felt very, very lucky.
We were married on August 3, in a small wedding in New Richmond. I'd never wanted a large wedding, or even a mid-sized one, and Beth agreed to humor me. It was mostly relatives, and a few friends who lived nearby. The wedding went well, and we took a train to Washington, D.C., for our honeymoon. Incidentally, the train was a wonderful way to start a honeymoon. We had our own room, and it was very relaxed, especially compared to the hectic pace of flying. I'd recommend it. (As a side note, buying a house the month before your wedding is a bad idea.)
So that's my story. Thanks for letting me talk about it! I wouldn't want to end without a picture of us together; here's a picture of Beth with me in Como Park.
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