Twenty-five years ago we met on the phone. I was a computer tech for a local company supporting MSN. Bill was having trouble with his email, sending or receiving. He called the support number for MSN and talked with a male tech who walked him through troubleshooting steps to fix his email. When they were done with those steps, the tech asked him if he provided satisfactory service to which Bill responded, "Yeah, I guess so." The next night when he went to use his email, it still wasn't working so he called the tech support number again, thinking he was gonna get the same tech. He had several expletives ready for him telling him what he thought of his service when, to his surprise, I was on the line to support him. When I asked him what his problem was, he responded, "My email don't work!" (He was understandably upset and wasn't ready to listen to anything I had to say). I asked him a few more questions to determine what the problem was with his email and I told him that I could help him get it working again. I started with our normal procedures and he said, "I already did all that stuff and it don't work!" Noticing that he was from New York, I knew that there was only one way to handle this situation. So, I said to him, "Listen, I'm from New Yawk, too, do you want me to fix your computa or not?" This took him by surprise and he responded, "Uh, yeah!" We prceeded with the process of fixing his computer and then I did something the other tech didn't do - I tested his email to be sure it was working. I said, "Ok, do you have one phone line or two?" He answered, "Two, of course!" (I informed him that not everyone had two phone lines, hence the question to which he responded with a "Hmmmph!". I sent him an email and he repled to that email. When I received his email, I said, "Bronx Snipe!!:" He then explained that he was from the Bronx (no kidding, with that accent???) and that he worked in the engine room on a ship in the Navy (hence the Snipe designation). I told him that his email appeared to be fixed to which he responded, "But you made one mistake, I now have your email!" The rest, as they say, is history! That was around Valentine's Day , 1998 when he sent me a dozen red long-stemmed roses, a box of Godiva chocolates and a necklace. We first met in person for St Patrick's Day that same year and we have been together since then. Bill was separated from his wife at that time, long before we met, and he never divorced her because of health reasons, she needed his health insurance. She recently passed away (February, 2023), so we are going to make this relationship official!