My Virtual Crossroads

There were rumors…Some “friends” backed off as a result. Other friends showed more support than ever. Isn’t that interesting? I mean, really, we are in a virtual world. You can’t touch me, you can’t harm me…but remember, words are powerful; thus, having support or having your reputation destroyed does have an effect. I can’t count how many people left and never came back because they were bullied. We didn’t really care. Of course, we appreciated our friends, but it wouldn’t have mattered if we had none. Our love was flourishing, and nothing could stop that. We still spent every waking minute together. It had become clear, though, that it was not enough. We had to meet in real life.

In mid-October, S. jumped on a plane and flew down to meet me. He stayed with me for a weekend that proved that our bond reached beyond every little pixel dream. It was real…so real. That’s when I wrote a “thank you” email to the CEO of Utherverse. He never replied, but ah well. He’s a busy guy. I thought it would be terrible to get back to our daily lives without being together in person, but it was not. The memories fueled us, but more importantly, we knew that it’s only a matter of time before we can meet again. We decided that we will stay in each other’s lives as much as we can. We didn’t talk about me divorcing my husband. We simply believed that everything would happen the way it has to, and we will be led by our pure and deep love.

Covid wasn’t very supportive. The Canadian-US border shut down completely. Every month, we hoped for positive change, but we accepted that we might have to wait for a long time. We didn’t get bitter or sad. We celebrated Christmas in a brand new and adorable Christmas house where we made falling snow and put a ridiculously ugly Santa on the roof. I was able to balance my real and virtual life. Nothing had changed in my marriage since I had gone back to Utherverse, but we had a nice Christmas. By this time, a desire was itching in my heart. I wanted S. to marry me. Yes, marry me. Yes, in the virtual world. Yes, I wanted to wear a virtual wedding gown at a virtual wedding venue and say “I do” in front of a Justice of Peace who would then provide us with a marriage certificate with the Utherverse stamp on the bottom.

Weddings in Utherverse are very common. Even if you can’t or don’t want to marry in reality, you can express your love and commitment in Utherverse by marrying your lover. Obviously, your marriage certificate is only valid in Utherverse. Why would you want one? I’m not sure…it creates a beautiful illusion, perhaps. Some people take their virtual marriage very seriously. I know couples who got married in Utherverse years ago, and now they are married in real life. I know couples who came to Utherverse as a married couple, and they loved the idea so much…they got married in Utherverse as well. I also know a lot of couples who broke up right before or right after their wedding. I think in many cases, the biggest reason to get married is all about feeling loved and celebrated. My motivation was a mix of both. I knew I couldn’t just marry S. in reality, so I thought officiating our bond in Utherverse was a nice idea. And yes, I also wanted to be celebrated. I was and still am very proud of Us.

On New Year’s Eve, we were at a jazz club just passing the time. All of a sudden, the DJ told me to get up on stage. I knew what was going on…or let’s say, I hoped. There is a thing called the Broadcast. Authorized people can send a broadcast message that appears in purple on the top of the screen. It raises attention…the purple text doesn’t get lost in local chat either. As I was standing on the stage, a purple text appeared…sentence by sentence S. proposed to me. It was a long and beautiful proposal, and everyone was ecstatic…especially me. I was so very happy. I laughed and cried at the same time. It was just a text on the screen of my laptop. I couldn’t see S. going down on one knee or anything like that, but it was just as real. I said yes, and that night I stayed up giggling while staring at my pixel diamond ring.