Facebook, ICQ Sparked Romance

Sharon says God used Facebook to connect her with Harold.

Sharon credits Facebook for connecting with her husband, Harold. Jennifer’s romance started with friendly chats via ICQ, the precursor to AOL’s IM, with her future husband, Ryan. Both romances began online with a friendship that led to in-person meetings.

Chat Leads to Date
“I was 15 at the time when I was on ICQ,” says Jennifer. “I put in the minimum information not revealing my location. I just added a brief blurb about my favorite bands and whoever saw me online, didn’t see my age, location or real name.” Jennifer met people from all over the world on ICQ and one night started chatting with Ryan.

Jennifer met Ryan on an ICQ chat.

Ryan lived 15 miles from her and he says God told him to click on the ICQ one more time. That’s when Jennifer popped up. They saw that they liked the same bands and started chatting. “Six months later he asked me out when he turned 16,” she says. “We’ve been together ever since.”

Ryan and Jennifer married at 20-years-old. In May they will celebrate their 9th anniversary.

God Used Facebook
In March 2009, Harold in Kansas City sent a friend request to Sharon in Utah on Facebook because he thought she was his daughter, Sarah’s respiratory therapist. Sharon wasn’t Harold’s daughter’s former respiratory therapist but she saw that Harold was friends with Mary, a woman she respected.

“I thought if he was friends with Mary, he must be a good guy.” Harold and Sharon discovered on Facebook that they she attended the church he use to attend when he lived in Utah. They also had a lot of mutual friends and interests.

One day Harold messaged Sharon on Facebook that he was coming to Utah for business and to go skiing with his son, James. “My friend Crystal told me to give Harold a chance. He sounded like a good guy,” says Sharon. “I thought, ‘you can be anyone you want to online.’”

Harold attended Sharon’s church that Sunday and they went out to lunch. “We talked for 3 hours, then we drove around Utah to see some of the places he use to go to when he lived in Utah in 1991,” she says. “We enjoyed each other’s company.” They ended the day eating dessert at one of her favorite places.

Sharon had been divorced for 3 years and was cautious about her new friend. The following Thursday, Harold took Sharon out to dinner. “He came to my house to pick me up and when I walked out he said ‘wow,’” says Sharon. “That was his moment when he knew I was the one for him.”

Harold went back to Kansas City and called Sharon a week later. “He said he wanted to take our relationship to another level.” she says. “I told him that long-distance relationships took a lot of work and I don’t have the time or funds to make this happen so this would be all on him. He said he was willing to do the work.”

Harold travelled to Utah two times after that conversation and Sharon visited Kansas City twice. In June, Sharon realized Harold was the one for her. “I had a problem with my sinuses and we had a bunch of stuff that didn’t go right,” she says.
“He was so kind and tender through it all that when we were walking on the Riverwalk, he held my hand and it all connected. He was the one for me.”

They got married in Utah and Sharon moved to Kansas City. “God used Facebook to bring us together,” she says.

Jennifer’s Tips for Relating Online
If you’re venturing into online romance, Jennifer gives these safety tips:

*Be very cautious about how much information you reveal. Don’t reveal your age or location right off the bat.
*Talk about general interests first. Spend time building a friendship.

“You can learn a lot about a person with the information they decide to reveal or omit from you during an online chat,” says Jennifer.