I couldn't believe my eyes. There he stood, in the middle of the crowd at the airport. I had a moment to observe him before he spotted me. It was Sam. Sam is the man I had been having an online relationship with for the past 2 years. He looked just like his pictures, but his stance and the look on his face showed me something you can't see in pictures. There was an honest look of concern, hope, and nerves as he watched the passengers disembark from the plane.
Sam stood about 5'8" and went about 175 pounds. His hair was silver, salt and pepper, parted to one side, and almost reached his shoulders in length. His eyes are a beautiful blue with a twinkle of mischief. When he smiles, he develops this dimple right above his lip on the left side that adds a bit of charm.
It seemed like I stood there for 10 minutes or more, just observing him and taking in his off-guard demeanor. Actually, it must have only been a minute or so before he saw me. Our eyes met and locked as he smiled and let out a breath of air that that seemed to be trapped in his shoulders. We didn't move at first, just stood there, staring for a moment. After I took the first step, we began to walk slowly toward each other, our eyes still locked in place.
"I see you made it OK. I was getting concerned after all those people filtered out and I still hadn't seen you. I thought maybe you'd changed your mind at the last minute."
"Oh, never! I've been waiting too long to meet you face to face to change my mind."
"We better go get your luggage. The carriage for this flight is this way."
We walked all the way down the stairs and over to the luggage racks without saying a word. It really seemed odd to never run out of things to say online, but here, face to face for the first time, we had nothing to say to each other. My mind was blank and our tongues were silent. I felt like I was back in high school, out on my first date with a boy.
When they finally reached the luggage carrier, he broke the silence.
"What color are your bags?" he asked.
"They are burgundy," I stammered, "with a black stripe down the middle, and they are soft sided."
My mind began to wander. "What the hell am I doing?" I thought to myself. "I fly hundreds of miles down south to meet a man I've only known online and all I can do is trust that everything he has told me was true. Except for the conversations we had online behind the security of a monitor and keyboard in our own homes, we had never met. I was beginning to have my doubts, to wonder if I had done the right thing. He could be a crazy killer or kidnapper planning on selling me into slavery.
"Is that one of your bags?" he asked, breaking into my thoughts. I turned to look at him and our eyes met once again. After only a moment, he smiled at me. It was pure, honest, and from the heart. Sam is a wonderful man, from the inside out. It was in that moment that I knew I had made the right decision. I could not go on without meeting the man I had shared so much with for the past 2 years. It was within that moment that her protective shied had dissolved.