i went all the way to boston and all i got was this crappy t-shirt (oh, yeah, and THE GUY.)
(Longtime MegFowler.com readers: What you have just seen is a photo of Meg with a boy. I know you’re not used to it. Hell, we’re not used to it. We don’t normally feature this type of content, do we? No, we don’t. In fact, we’ve made a point of not featuring this type of content and while we don’t regret that, per se, it’s time we loosened up a little because that boy?
Up there?
That one?
He’s good.)
So I went to Boston. I didn’t write much more about it than the one post, because, well… I was too busy having fun!
I’ll give you a few highlights of the trip in point form to make up for my silence:
-
Getting lost in the web of the MBTA, from old trains to buses that talk and all manner of tourists asking ME for directions
Sacrificing my hair to the wind each day
Learning to use a camera with my awesome, awesome friend Matt who I was thrilled to meet:
Oh, and meeting these people, too (just a few of so many amazing ones I met):
(Laura, Gruen and Shelley! And Andreas. Shelley, does he have a blog?)
Walking approximately 4,000 miles to find a Whole Foods, and finding MIT instead (does that mean I’m smart?)
Delighting in the local accent, and picking it up occasionally in conversation to my great joy
Falling in love with brownstones in Beacon Hill
Noting the blunt nature of US Gov’t signage:
Experiencing the magic of yet another laundromat in a major US city (I loved the one I went to in San Diego, too. I love laundry way too much)
A delicious 4-course tasting menu at Radius, that actually had about four more courses and an extra dessert
Chasing squirrels
A design reception at Montage for Toord Boontje where one woman had a diamond ring so large I believe I would have to sell all my organs (and yours) on the black market to ever afford it
Hanging out with a certain someone who spent four hours trying to make “Sanford and Son” the ringtone for his Blackberry
It was awesome.
What else was awesome?
I’d taken an active role in helping organize it from afar, but I can’t tell you how amazing it was to actually BE there and meet gazillions of people I’d only previously met online (and to surprise them with my presence, too!)
Not to mention that the cause of preventing domestic violence means a lot to me — I spent years working with, and caring for women who had survived things I can’t possibly imagine going through. We raised a lot of money to help out these women (and their families) in Massachusetts, and that is AWESOME.
Here are some photos from the event to display further awesomeness (OMG, FULL BODY PHOTOS OF MEG? HAS THE WORLD GONE MAD?)…
All the volunteers who helped with the event:
A certain young man receiving a gift from the volunteers (and making a face that should tell you a lot about why I like him):
Posing for the paparazzi:
And some dear folks:
And some fun I had at the end of the night:
Here’s a bit of video of a certain young man, as a bonus:
He’s cute, no?
I guess this would be an appropriate time to tell you who he is.
Gradon Tripp is someone I’ve been talking to online since February of this year — first as friends, and then as HMMMMM I LIKE YOU COULD THIS WORK?
Email (mercifully free), phone calls (anyone want to buy a kidney?), text messages (a spleen? no?)… you name it. We used every mode of communication possible to dig deep into our brains, our hearts, and our lives. I’m no internet dater, but this didn’t feel like that, anyway. It just felt inevitable.
Which is a roundabout way of saying that he caught my eye rather significantly, to the point where I knew I wanted to meet him properly… and to make this thing “real.”
EEEK!
I have a rather illustrious history with the opposite sex and my rather atrocious body image.
I’m a round girl. I wasn’t always a round girl, but there you go. I am now. Not everyone likes round girls, so I’ve spent much of my dating life waiting for the other shoe to drop… in other words, for my roundness to become an issue. For what was going on below my heart to trump everything that was going on from my heart up.
It sucked, to be blunt.
But back to Gradon. He is neither round, nor a girl. What he IS… is awesome.
He convinced me over time that he wasn’t like anyone else I’d ever been involved with (or thought about getting involved with.) He saw me not as a body, but as a whole person… a person he really, really cared about.
So I made the leap. I went there. I don’t know how to explain how much of a risk that was for me… and I also don’t know how to explain how tremendously that risk was rewarded within an hour of arriving at Logan Airport in Boston.
See, we were comfortable in mere moments. Not just comfortable like you might be with an affable stranger in a lineup at a grocery store, but comfortable like I’d known him for years.
Comfortable like the sun hitting your face on the first day Spring really feels like Spring and you remember what warm is again.
Comfortable like the chair your grandpa always sat in that swallowed you up in worn cushions and the smell of Old Spice.
Comfortable like the conversations you have with old friends that need no preamble — they just continue where you left off.
Comfortable like the softest sweater you own that has holes and snags… but there’s no way you’re letting it go.
But let me tell you why it was so comfortable.
Gradon is the kind of peaceful, gentle, gracious person who is so easy to be around, and so easy to talk to that you’re absolutely free to be yourself when he is nearby. He’s funny and goofy in a way that inspires everything from grins to all-out asthmatic laughing breakdowns. You can guess how much I love that.
He’s brilliant and inquisitive and full of ideas and information and trivia that bubbles up out of him without warning — but always manages to be completely interesting and engaging. Really. He’s honestly one of the most interesting — and interestED — people I’ve ever met. He listens as much as, or more than he talks, too, so you feel like you can tell him anything at all… and he’ll care.
He loves — just like me — design and music and art and music and fashion and music and food and music… and did I mention he loves music? He has a soundtrack for everything in his head… again, just like me. We might not love the same exact styles and genres, but we intersect enough that we won’t lack things to listen to together for a very long time.
He has a giant heart that makes him incredibly accepting of people around him, and motivated to make a difference in their lives. He could easily have allowed some childhood difficulties he faced to warp that heart… but instead, he chose kindness and openness.
Finally? He’s hot. Seriously cute. Fiercely cute. And well-dressed. And he smells good. Okay, okay… stay with me, here. I’ll stop gushing sometime in the next few years.
What REALLY made me comfortable though, is that Gradon accepted me from the moment he saw me with open arms and a smile. He told me without reservation or hesitation that I was beautiful. He believes I am brilliant and talented, too, which doesn’t hurt.
Hearing those things from someone I adore has changed me, practically overnight.
My friends and family have been filling me with those words for years now, but they’ve always had an uphill battle when it comes to counteracting what I’d dealt with on the romantic side of things. I know that my parents have been frustrated for years that I was a sort of Idiot Magnet ™ for men who lacked the capacity to love and accept things outside of their ideals.
But now I’ve found someone who believes I AM that ideal. Not a compromise. Not a letdown. Not a disappointment.
Just Meg.
And in return, I get the honor of returning that same deliriously good feeling back in his direction.
There are plans and parent visits (and parental approval processes!) and more details than you can shake a stick at that will be required to make this work. It’s already working, mind you, but I would love to see us go the distance. And I wouldn’t write about this here if I didn’t think that was possible.
I know people think I’ll talk about any old thing online, but my privacy levels are actually much, much higher than you’d imagine.
But I had to tell you about this.
Read what I wrote almost three years ago. You’ll understand what’s inside of me right now.
So to you, Gradon, thanks for being you and thanks for being with me, even from afar.
I’m very, very, very blessed.
October 17th, 2008 at 11:20 am
Teary eyes at work,
Oh so manly man, I am.
Thank you, dearest Meg. :)
October 17th, 2008 at 11:25 am
I am clapping my hands after reading your post! Having read your blog for several months, I’m hardly surprised that you’ve found someone who understands how fabulous you are. Huzzah! The long-distance thing resonates but after a few months of e-mails, phone calls, traveling and trying out life in Portugal (and seriously considering leaving Vancouver in my past) … anything is possible with a little faith in ourselves. I don’t even know but but I’m VERY happy for you! :-)
October 17th, 2008 at 11:26 am
Meg (and Gradon), your story is so wonderful and lovely and touching. Thank you so much for sharing it with us! Makes me feel special to “know” you!
October 17th, 2008 at 11:26 am
Love this openness and frank gushing. There is a good reason we like stories like this (girl-boy meet, seems like odds stacked against, overcome, and it’s wonderful), because it gives people hope.
Hope is good.
October 17th, 2008 at 11:27 am
(oops, typo! … don’t even know you, but …) sheesh
October 17th, 2008 at 11:31 am
Whoa!
I knew from the very first time I read one of your posts (thanks Gruen for pointing me in Meg’s direction) that you were special. You have a way with words like none other and I could tell your heart was as big as it gets. And over time I would read and read and read (and sometimes comment) and always say a little prayer that you would find someone as wonderful as you are that would recognize how lucky they would be to have you in their lives.
Your love lists gave you away. And you found true love in the process.
And yeah. He’s totally hot! But then again, so are you!
October 17th, 2008 at 11:38 am
*Wicked sweet!! and you give inspiration to all those other girls out there feeling boy-impaired …
*English to Bostonese translation of “how romantic!” :-)
October 17th, 2008 at 11:39 am
Oooh! You sound so happy!
I happen to think the internet is a wonderful place to meet someone. Certainly worked for me!
All the best to you…
October 17th, 2008 at 11:42 am
Meg, I am just so endlessly thrilled for you. Truly, and I wish you and Gradon all the best. Chris and I began online, too, on his website, through one comment, and we had to live across the country from one another for far too many months. It was all so completely worth it. Which, of course you already know.
October 17th, 2008 at 11:43 am
I am so happy for you! Yay for men that love us for who we are and not just for what we look like!
October 17th, 2008 at 11:50 am
I have a pretty damn good vocabulary and all I got right now is, “wow!” If I could be happier for another human, I’m not sure how!
October 17th, 2008 at 11:53 am
A true love story! Good luck you two! ;-)
Jim | @jstorerj
October 17th, 2008 at 12:05 pm
Yea! A Twitter love story!
October 17th, 2008 at 12:17 pm
How wonderful.
That’s the only phrase I could use to describe it. After every sentence I read, I thought “How wonderful.”
My fiance and I met online as well, through the magic of blogging, and you completely nailed the feelings that were nagging from the very beginning of our relationship.
It is an intense feeling, that split second before meeting someone face to face. So many emotions. “Should I just turn around? I can go home and we can pretend that this never happened because what if he thinks all of the worst things I think about myself and gives those as reasons he won’t be with me? Good, so I’m leaving. Then I won’t have to deal with the humiliation. Yep. I’m leaving. Not really because there he is and is he smiling? And saying things with his mouth? Because I cannot breathe.” But the feeling of knowing that this person accepts you completely and fully and truly completely outweighs the risk that he won’t. And at least you’ll know either way.
And now you do.
I am so happy for you, as I’m sure all of your readers are.
October 17th, 2008 at 12:26 pm
I had a FEELING something was up! How lovely! :)
October 17th, 2008 at 12:28 pm
Amazing and wow and congrats
October 17th, 2008 at 12:48 pm
Ha Ha! I knew it! Just yesterday I was thinking that you had probably fallen in love and so had no time or coherent thought to post. I love it!!!
October 17th, 2008 at 1:04 pm
What a wonderful, sweet, romantic as anything story! I don’t know either of you but I am thrilled for you both. I have always said love knows nothing of space, time or distance - it just knows. You two have certainly proved that!
October 17th, 2008 at 1:14 pm
Lovely. I mean I figured it out weeks ago but to hear from you makes it that much better. Lots of happiness to you both.
October 17th, 2008 at 1:32 pm
i too was teary as i read. so genuinely and sincerely happy for both of you. can he come to “Shintmas 2008″? we’d love to meet him!
October 17th, 2008 at 1:41 pm
YAY! That definitely explains your lack of posting lately. I figured something was up, glad it is positive!
October 17th, 2008 at 1:57 pm
Now I can forgive your for being absent from the blogging station. Mazel tov. Congratulations. You go girl…and guy!
You are both beautiful…and smart…and funny…and I am so happy for you.
Never mind the fact that we have never met!
Gradon and Meg. Yeah.
October 17th, 2008 at 2:20 pm
Boston in the fall… who KNEW it would be this amazing! We are so thrilled for you (& Gradon!). Much love from 3 fans in K-town. XOXOXO
October 17th, 2008 at 2:26 pm
I am sincerely thrilled for you. Deliriously ecstatic. I have spent a wee bit of time reading all of your posts past and present since stumbling across you on the net. At first glance, on good days, you seem like the happiest person on the planet. Colour me surprised when I read your past posts and discovered the health problems and such. You are a simply astoundingly amazing person Meg Fowler and you more than deserve a wonderful stupendous fellow. Congrats! :)
October 17th, 2008 at 2:55 pm
Aw, y’all are sweeeeet.
October 17th, 2008 at 3:07 pm
Wholly crap MEG! Finally! and GOOD JOB!
He is a cutie!
October 17th, 2008 at 4:38 pm
I’m so happy for you. What a great story. Here’s to more full-body shots, OK? Round is beautiful!!
October 17th, 2008 at 4:38 pm
well done.
October 17th, 2008 at 5:45 pm
Oh Meg! I am THRILLED for you. I could not be happier. Big love through the miles.
And Gradon, if you are reading this, if you hurt her I will personally fly to Bean Town and kick your ever loven’ ass.
October 17th, 2008 at 6:03 pm
I knew you both online first, but I’ve been lucky to meet Gradon and grow to find him a valued friend here in Boston in person long before I met Meg in person. When I did meet you at SM4SC my thought for the two of you was “perfect”.
:) GUSH :)
October 17th, 2008 at 6:05 pm
Oh you have to love a good romance!
October 17th, 2008 at 6:18 pm
oh meggy, this post made me cry tears of joy :) so very happy I am to hear of this great news, and I DO understand your privacy levels so it makes me that much happier to read about it on here, MUAH!
October 17th, 2008 at 6:39 pm
:)
that is all <3
October 18th, 2008 at 3:18 am
So I have been reflecting on all the lovely things that have happened to you recently in the context of the 18(!) years that I have known you and seen you mature into the exceptional woman that you are, despite the hurts and setbacks. And I think it would be the most amazing movie. You should write a screenplay. I wonder who you might cast as “Meg”. Or “Gradon”, for that matter…
I continue to be tickled pink, my friend.
October 18th, 2008 at 3:30 am
If nothing else ever comes of Twitter, this makes it all worthwhile. Ecstatic for you. And wishing you all good.
mickeleh
October 18th, 2008 at 10:05 am
It seems so cheap to say, “I’m so happy for you!”…it’s like laying in a meadow under the Northern Lights with someone you love and saying, “this is neat.”
Insufficient words, indeed.
Isn’t is great when big dreams are fulfilled? Because suddenly even the smallest of dreams are filled full.
Thank you for sharing some of the happy dance with us. Spin and twirl and take it all in!
October 18th, 2008 at 11:48 am
Move over Carrie and Big–this is far more romantic and nobody deserves it more.
Twitterpation.
October 18th, 2008 at 12:56 pm
Hey Girl! I told Shannon this was why you were offline for so long - we’ve been looking for you for days and to find you pop up with such great news is awesome.
Dinner soon! I want dirt :0)
October 18th, 2008 at 1:44 pm
I’ve always believed that when something is right, it just falls into place, without much effort at all. Meg, that was one of the most special, most tender, most honest blog posts I’ve ever read. Doesn’t hurt that I love you both so much and am beyond happy for the two of you.
I hope wine in the North End and helium sing-a-longs were just the beginning of many silly moments to come.
Massive love. x
(…and no, Andreas doesn’t have a blog. ha! that’ll be the day.)
October 18th, 2008 at 1:47 pm
I didn’t think anything would make me tear up more than Gradon’s blog post about you but this did it!
You are in l-o-v-e and it is wonderful for you to share it with your readers. It reminds me of how spectacular and “right” it feels when it happens.
Others have overcome obstacles of distance and nation and I have no doubt you two can overcome them as well with love on your side and the support of lot of people (on & offline) who only want the best for you both.
October 18th, 2008 at 1:51 pm
Congratulations, Meg! That’s such awesome news. And it’s so wonderful to see you (and your man) looking so deliriously happy in the photos. You so deserve it.
… On a side note, I just wanted to let you know that we recently pulled out the little sweater your mother knitted for Milo. It now fits Morris perfectly, and whenever I put it on Morris I think about you and how wonderful your mom must be to make such a beautiful gift for someone she doesn’t even know. Please thank her again for me.
And if you ever want to show a certain someone around the Sunshine Coast, you know where to come for dinner and drinks! We’ll even put you up for a night or two in the “honeymoon suite.” (Read: our fold-out coach.) ;-)
October 18th, 2008 at 4:00 pm
OH. I forgot to mention that all i noticed in those so-called “full body” shots was the hotness of those fantastic red shoes. close-toed, no less. you must be in love. with the shoes and the guy.
October 18th, 2008 at 6:11 pm
here’s to happiness! hooray!
October 18th, 2008 at 6:27 pm
Meg, even though I don’t know you, I adore you through your blog. I am so, so happy for you!
October 18th, 2008 at 8:05 pm
Tell me more! I want all the details. Let’s do coffee!
October 18th, 2008 at 8:24 pm
I once met a boy on the Internet first. And then we instant messaged and called and texted and even web-cammed. And then we both took a leap and met at Boston Logan Airport! And guess what? We got married 5 months later.
You described how I felt when I met him–perfectly comfortable. I knew I wanted to marry him when I had the world’s best time feeding squirrels with him in Boston Common.
I wouldn’t presume to say I know how you are feeling, but if it’s like I did, it’s a mixture of incredible elation to have FINALLY FOUND HIM and an intense longing to be in his presence RIGHT NOW THIS MINUTE.
I am so happy for you and I look forward to reading where the story goes from here!
October 18th, 2008 at 8:58 pm
You know I get all teary and giggly and squidgy whenever I read anything either one of you says about the other, right?
I’m firmly in the Fowler/Tripp fan club now! :)
Funny part is, I’ve been in both of your fan clubs for a long time now - but the fact that he sees what we see in you? Makes him move even higher in my book!! :)
October 18th, 2008 at 10:29 pm
Meg you look great! and I’m happy to hear that things are going really well for you!
October 19th, 2008 at 6:17 am
One more thing which gives me confidence that REAL love is there, somewhere - not lost. You look amazingly beautiful together - like knit from the same rope. Be blessed.
October 19th, 2008 at 6:15 pm
You were in Boston? Nobody tells me anything.
October 19th, 2008 at 6:24 pm
:)
October 19th, 2008 at 6:30 pm
Thank goodness someone tweeted this post or I might have missed it! How lovely, you’re such an amazing writer. And as a round girl convinced that no guy will ever love me unless I go get my tummy stapled or something, I admit to getting a bit misty at your story; in my defense, I am on a couple shots of NyQuil. :)
I am SO happy you guys! And it was awesome to meet you.
October 20th, 2008 at 4:22 pm
I understand entirely what you mean about being, er, round and waiting for the right guy to come along to whom it wouldn’t matter one little bit. I also get that it never seems to mean as much hearing the niceties from family and friends as it does when the man you adore says it to you over and over.
That said, you guys look so happy and sweet and I hope it works out just the way you’d like.
I’m also very glad to have finally known of SOMEBODY who had a POSITIVE experience at Logan Airport. Yeesh!
October 20th, 2008 at 5:14 pm
Very Brave Blog Entry.
October 20th, 2008 at 6:56 pm
Meg, I’m SO THRILLED for you. You look/sound so happy. (And no wonder — that boy is cute, isn’t he?) ;-)
October 21st, 2008 at 5:56 am
There’s nothing I love more than LOVE!!! Woohoo! Congratulations, Meg & Gradon!
October 21st, 2008 at 7:32 am
Congratulations on happiness…
I used to have frames for my glasses much like Gradon’s.
October 21st, 2008 at 10:51 am
After months of the emails, talking, and texting as you described, I found *my* man in South Station. Boston is freakin’ magical eh? hehe
Sorry it took me so long to find this post, read it, and feel gushy in my own way. I’m really glad you found someone so wonderful because you really deserve it. All the best Meg!
October 22nd, 2008 at 7:47 am
Meg,
I follow your tweets and your blog..and I think you’re a brilliant, funny amazing person..I wish you were MY friend.. ha ha ha
You, being so savvy on the web, must know about Skype..but it was a true life saver for me and my (ex) long distant boyfriend..saved us TONS in long distance. Pay for the pro account and Skype minutes, and you can get a BOSTON number (forward that to your Van #), he can phone your Boston number (a local call for him) and get you in Van (because it’s forwarded!) Vice versa for him and getting a Van number.. voila..cheap Long Distance!
Plus, you can also talk for FREE computer to computer via a headset or Skype phone (then you’re not chained to your pc)
It worked for us.
Congrats on finding love online. It used to be so cliche..but it’s more ‘accepted’ now, and why not? The internet is a great place to meet like minded people…
October 22nd, 2008 at 8:56 pm
Well, Meg - I had already sent you an email and a tweet, but here’s a comment just to say, congratulations! I haven’t found the right one yet, but when I feel like I never will, I will read this post to remind me that there is indeed true love. This will be a post for posterity. Congratulations to you and Gradon.
October 24th, 2008 at 2:47 pm
Oh, Meg, I am so incredibly happy for you! You deserve the best and he sure sounds like the best! I went though something similar in 1999 and last month we celebrated out 9th wedding anniversary.
October 27th, 2008 at 11:15 am
Dude. It took me until comment 62 on this? I fail.
He’s a keeper. So are you. And, my happiness for all of this… hard to explain in words.
So, watch our video at double speed, while listening to Enya, after having downed four Red Bulls and spinning dizzily in your chair.
And then.. you’ll understand HALF as happy as I am. :)
October 28th, 2008 at 12:12 pm
Meg!
Such wonderful, wonderful news. I have been worried (what with the infrequent posting and all) that health issues were dragging you away from us (your fans and readers).
What a wonderful surprise to find that it was love and and a wonderful young man who is taking your time and talents!
Keep us posted. I spent a good bit of time looking at the Social Media for change site and it is a wonderful project. Good for you, getting involved.
Chris (in Virginia)
October 28th, 2008 at 7:07 pm
oh meg! marvelous meg…I love your blog so much that I often go away from reading it for a while so there will be a bunch to submerse myself in when I come back (since I burned through the archives already). it’s actually the first blog I read with any regularity.
On many levels I relate to you, and in many ways you’re so much smarter, cooler, funnier than I am.
when I read the post about boston boy, well, I gasped! a gasp of happiness and surprise. you my dear, are an inspiration. there is hope that there are boys out there that can recognize that roundness doesn’t cancel out everything else that is wonderful and true about a person!
good for you! and clearly good for the mr., cause you’re just a super fab gal.
(and incidentally, I think you are a beautiful lady and I loved seeing full lengthy meg!)
November 7th, 2008 at 10:27 am
Oh my, how did I miss this??? I am so happy for you, Meg.
November 27th, 2008 at 8:57 pm
Wow!!! Meg I am SO happy for you. That is fantastic! (Obviously I am a little behind on my blogging) Best of everything…you deserve it!
February 27th, 2009 at 3:40 am
Meg, I am so thrilled for you guys! You are an adorable couple! You both seem so nice and interesting and unique…in the same ways, maybe? :) I met my husband online. You can get to know someone quite well that way, can’t you? And we were comfortable within moments, as well. When the hearts know one another, it doesn’t take but a moment for the whole persons to connect. :) :D
September 15th, 2009 at 10:10 am
I might have missed this in your post, but how long did you both talk before actually meeting in person? Your story sounds so familiar, by the way :)
http://adamriggins.com/2009/08/20/our-story-so-far/