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- Jun 25, 2020
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During the summer of 1971, a 19 year old camp counselor read a novel in LaPorte, Minnesota. During the same summer, a 14 year old girl read the same book in LaPorte, Texas.
Turn the clocks ahead about 25 years. The camp counselor is now a professional soil scientist who had just received his first internet access ever from his employer. He was curious to use this new tool. He wondered if he could find a copy of that book he read 25 years earlier. Amazon.com was a place to look for books, so he went there. The book was out of print and used copies were not available from anyone.....bummer. But wait, someone had left a 5-star review of the old book with an e-mail address! The email address this person used was just some letters and numbers.
Well, I sent this person a message using my work email address inquiring whether the book might be for sale. The person informed me that the book was a gift from her father and was consequently not for sale. Shoot! I gave up on my search and life went on.
Turn the clocks ahead again. A few more years had passed. Y2K was approaching and I became interested in self-reliant living. I came upon an internet forum composed of people with the same interests. The forum was much like this one. The name I used at this forum was "Cabin Fever." A few months later a woman, using the name "Susan in Texas" joined the forum. The forum was recommended to her by a man named "Greenbeanman" who some of you may remember was the late "Windy in Kansas" at HT.
For many months, perhaps a year, all of us visiting this homesteading forum wrote questions and answers about gardening, livestock, home repairs, hunting, simple living and family life....just like we do (or used to do) here.
That's when I wrote a story, entitled "Mi Amor, Mi Corazon" and posted it for the forum to enjoy. Susan in Texas sent me a PM telling me how much she enjoyed the story. We corresponded back and forth for several weeks, me using my Cabin Fever e-mail address and she using her "Wind In Her Hair" e-mail address.
Then, on October 7, 1999, our miracle unfolded. That day I sent her an e-mail , but this time I used my work e-mail...rather than Yahoo mail. My work e-mail address contained my real name. Almost immediately, I received a response that went something like this:
Steven, you'd better be sitting down. (This was the first time she had not referred to me as Cabin Fever) Several years ago I received an e-mail from a man searching for a book that he had read many years ago. He told me about how he read it during the summer of 1971 when he was a camp counselor. Steven, that man is you! A while back I found a second copy of that book. I bought it. It has been sitting here on my bookshelf ever since then waiting for you. But alas, I had lost your name and your e-mail address....
The rest of our story, as they say, is history. We believe that our second meeting was truly a miracle. Consider this; there are millions, perhaps billions, of websites and webpages out there. What are the odds to have communicated with the same person at two totally different, totally unrelated websites especially when they've used different personas? I figured the odds once and we'd have better chances winning the Power Ball lottery!
One more thing....LaPorte, Minnesota and LaPorte, Texas....the locations where we both read the novel during the summer of 1971. LaPorte is the French word for "the portal"..... I believe that our destiny was linked in 1971 via this portal....
Miracles do happen!
Turn the clocks ahead about 25 years. The camp counselor is now a professional soil scientist who had just received his first internet access ever from his employer. He was curious to use this new tool. He wondered if he could find a copy of that book he read 25 years earlier. Amazon.com was a place to look for books, so he went there. The book was out of print and used copies were not available from anyone.....bummer. But wait, someone had left a 5-star review of the old book with an e-mail address! The email address this person used was just some letters and numbers.
Well, I sent this person a message using my work email address inquiring whether the book might be for sale. The person informed me that the book was a gift from her father and was consequently not for sale. Shoot! I gave up on my search and life went on.
Turn the clocks ahead again. A few more years had passed. Y2K was approaching and I became interested in self-reliant living. I came upon an internet forum composed of people with the same interests. The forum was much like this one. The name I used at this forum was "Cabin Fever." A few months later a woman, using the name "Susan in Texas" joined the forum. The forum was recommended to her by a man named "Greenbeanman" who some of you may remember was the late "Windy in Kansas" at HT.
For many months, perhaps a year, all of us visiting this homesteading forum wrote questions and answers about gardening, livestock, home repairs, hunting, simple living and family life....just like we do (or used to do) here.
That's when I wrote a story, entitled "Mi Amor, Mi Corazon" and posted it for the forum to enjoy. Susan in Texas sent me a PM telling me how much she enjoyed the story. We corresponded back and forth for several weeks, me using my Cabin Fever e-mail address and she using her "Wind In Her Hair" e-mail address.
Then, on October 7, 1999, our miracle unfolded. That day I sent her an e-mail , but this time I used my work e-mail...rather than Yahoo mail. My work e-mail address contained my real name. Almost immediately, I received a response that went something like this:
Steven, you'd better be sitting down. (This was the first time she had not referred to me as Cabin Fever) Several years ago I received an e-mail from a man searching for a book that he had read many years ago. He told me about how he read it during the summer of 1971 when he was a camp counselor. Steven, that man is you! A while back I found a second copy of that book. I bought it. It has been sitting here on my bookshelf ever since then waiting for you. But alas, I had lost your name and your e-mail address....
The rest of our story, as they say, is history. We believe that our second meeting was truly a miracle. Consider this; there are millions, perhaps billions, of websites and webpages out there. What are the odds to have communicated with the same person at two totally different, totally unrelated websites especially when they've used different personas? I figured the odds once and we'd have better chances winning the Power Ball lottery!
One more thing....LaPorte, Minnesota and LaPorte, Texas....the locations where we both read the novel during the summer of 1971. LaPorte is the French word for "the portal"..... I believe that our destiny was linked in 1971 via this portal....
Miracles do happen!
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