The Fork War

A few years back, I was really into collecting antique china and silver. It didn't have to match; that's what makes it interesting.

I fell in love with Occupied Japan and couldn't get enough of it. So, I collected, and collected; as much as I could find. Ebay was a great source.
After I had collected enough china, I began looking at silver. Forks, knives, spoons, demitasse, butter knives, ladles, muffineers, napkin rings.... You name it, I had to have it. And it HAD to be silver.

One day, I found some forks. They were beautiful, they were silver, and they were mine! (At least in my mind they were mine!) They were all I needed to complete my set, allowing me to be able have 12 dinner guests. I could feel them in my hands. I could see them on my table!

I put my bid in. I waited. I watched. No competition.
The last day of the auction, still no bids, and I had to leave the house, something I never do on the last day of an auction. I felt confident that I would be eating with my new forks later that week.

When I returned and checked the auction, someone else had bid against me and stole my forks! I was so disappointed! But for some strange reason, I was calm! Later, I would learn why.
At the time, ebay allowed users to use their email addresses as bidder names. I noticed that the thief winning bidder had an AOL address. I don't know what possessed me but, I immediately added the name to my AIM list and IMed her/him (?).

"I had to leave the house today," I said, "or those forks would be mine!"

Holding my breath, I waited for the response. I really expected to be ignored or worse; get a nasty response. Instead, I got the old, "LOL"!

So, I responded with some other witty retort and ended up having a nice, long conversation with a really nice lady who, it turned out, lives a little more than an hour from me! We continued to have conversations for days, then weeks, months....

It has been years now (I can't even remember how many) and we still laugh about the forks. Things happen. Life interferes. Children get married, grandchildren are born, loved ones pass on, houses are sold, spouses get sick. But we continue to be Internet friends. We laugh about the forks. We exchange birthday, anniversary, and Christmas cards. We laugh about the forks. We exchange confidences. We laugh about the forks. Someday we will meet.

"Kevmeema" is one of the best friends that I have never met! Sometimes, it takes being a loser to become a winner!