|
by Amanda Fowler
Staff Writer
E-mail, instant messaging, Web sites. The way people communicate today
is completely different from even ten years ago. Why call that cute guy
or girl in your biology class to ask for a date when you could just instant
message them instead?
Gone are the days of cotillions or relying on your parents to decide
upon the person of your dreams. It is the twenty-first century and why
not take advantage of it? That is exactly what Mr. and Mrs. Lewis and
Sylvia Spearman, professors in the Communications Department at Appalachian
State University, did.
Over lunch one afternoon, a fellow professor shared with
Sylvia how she had met someone over an Internet dating site. “So she showed me
this Web site and everything and I thought to myself, ‘that’s
for people who are very desperate,’” Sylvia said.
However, after considering the Web site for several weeks,
she decided she was going to go “shopping.”
She immediately saw Lewis’ picture and biography but hesitated
to write. It was not until later she decided to send him an e-mail, an
e-mail whose response she would not receive until days later.
 |
John Bethune | The Appalachian
Married for three-and-a-half years, Sylvia and Lewis Spearman met
on the Internet. |
On the other end, Lewis Spearman read an e-mail from an
unknown woman. Finding her interesting, he sent a return e-mail that
did not go through. Again he tried and the message failed. For eight
days he would attempt to send the e-mail that refused to go through. “I spent a week
being frustrated trying to get back in touch with her … and I
don’t know what it was that just kept compelling me to keep trying,” Lewis
said.
Finally, on the eighth day, the message cooperated. By this time, Sylvia
was unable to recall who the man was and had to go back and do some research.
When she wrote him back she included her telephone number and he called
her immediately.
After a long conversation, the two made plans to meet that weekend. Sylvia,
while teaching at Appalachian, maintained a summer place in Columbia,
S.C. for her motor home. Although Lewis was teaching at The Citadel,
his home was in Columbia, so the two decided to meet there.
After a wonderful weekend, the next week was spring break and Sylvia
accepted an invitation to visit with Lewis in Charleston, S.C.
The Friday of that week was Sylvia’s birthday and
she disclosed to her mother that she believed Lewis would ask her to
marry him on that day.
As soon as Sylvia arrived in Charleston on Thursday Lewis asked her to
marry him and she accepted.
That Sunday, the two traveled to see Lewis’ parents in Columbia.
A very nervous Lewis revealed that the two planned to get married and,
to the couple’s delight, his parents were thrilled.
They also spoke with Sylvia’s mother on the telephone, who was
delighted about the arrangement and gave her blessing. “Both of
our mothers said ‘don’t waste any more time,’” Lewis
said.
Only weeks later, they were married in Charleston and celebrated
their three-and-a-half year anniversary this month.
The couple is concerned that their story may influence young people in
the wrong way.
“We don’t want to send the wrong message here to young people
to jump off and marry somebody that they just meet, because that could
be construed as to what we are saying. It’s just that we felt like
we had lived a lot of life and that we knew what we wanted, and we knew
that we had a lot of the same, not only interests, but our backgrounds
were so similar and how we were brought up,” Sylvia said.
“It seemed to be an evolution of things that just fit together
and we just felt like it was God’s blessing for us,” Sylvia
said. “And we’re living happily ever after.”
|
