![[Lucia in Beer
Sheva]](images/h_brsvlu.jpg)
I fell in love. I went crazy over Lucia. I started
writing romantic poetry and saying things about love
I didn't think were possible.
![[Randy in
Vancouver]](images/h_widefrnt.jpg)
The following story is quite personal. I wouldn't normally publish
anything this personal but there are two good reasons to do so.
There are people who might want to know what it is like to stop
smoking. There are also those who might want to see about the
possibilities of finding romance on the net. --Randy
When I stopped smoking, I started to have emotions. I didn't realize what a powerful drug nicotine is. There are a number of resources on the internet that are there to help a person stop smoking. I used alt.support.stop-smoking but mostly I got a wonderful level of support from the smoke-free mailing list. To sub, send the "sub nosmoke" command to maiser@earth.execnet.com, or click here. On the smoke-free list, I met lots of fabulous people and became close friends.
The volume in that mailing list is substantial. I find that it can be hard to read it all. It provides support in copious measure. I also use a 12 step program, but the net resources are accessible 24 hrs 7 days a week.
The chat among the nic-kickers often runs into personal support and lots of joking around. It doesn't just center on how one gets through a craving. These people are very skilled at the art of email friendship. But one became more than a friend.
I fell in love. I went crazy over Lucia. I started
writing romantic poetry and saying things about love
I didn't think were possible.
The interesting thing is that Lucia was in Beer Sheva in Israel. That was about half way round the world from me in New Westminster, BC, Canada. We used the internet as the vehicle for our love affair.
However, I was in a relationship. I'd been there since
1984. Her name was Daryl. We weren't married or anything.
Although this relationship was pretty well a non-relationship
and had been so for a number of years, it was still a break-up
for us when I decided to move. However, I had to move. My feelings
made it clear.