While I was still very new to the online dating scene, I met up with the most extraordinary man. He wasn’t a Tony*- the constant crier.   He wasn’t a Luke*- the over-protesting Nigerian.  He wasn’t a Hunte*. In fact, he preceded all three of these men. Our contact was very short-lived; but we did make it to the communicating on a messenger system outside of the dating site stage.

Devon* was something entirely extraordinary- a man who spoke the truth. Indeed, if he did lie to me, then, that just makes him even more extraordinary or way more bizarre. I met him on the same site on which I’d later meet Tony and Hunte. He made the first move.  He looked at my profile. He sent me a note.

He liked my profile. He wanted to chat more. I looked at his profile; it read fine.  I scrutinized his photo; he was a bit too muscular for my liking. But, happy as I was that I’d gotten noticed so early in the game by a man that seemed ‘nice’, I responded and after two conversations we moved on to Yahoo Messenger.   He did appear genuinely nice and we talked about a number of things. He had some rather impressive views on relationships: marriage, sex and the like.

Devon was very conscientious about his body. He was in law enforcement and his physical fitness was very important to him. He was an avid gym-goer and was proud of the results. He thought his profile picture said it all on that topic.

By the time the fourth conversation rolled around, Devon had some important things to tell me.  I pretended patience on my end. I might have even told him to take his time.  He wanted me to understand that he was very much a Christian and very much involved in his church.   He had made that decision to be born again and serve Jesus Christ as his one and only saviour. As such, there were certain things he could not do and certain things he looked for in a mate.  I wouldn’t be a suitable help-meet if I didn’t meet all the requirements.

He was also HIV positive.

After blinking at the screen several times, I managed to respond with something eloquent.  He assured me that he just wanted me to know all that there was to know about him. This was a very big part of him.  We could have a relationship; we just had to be very careful. And, if I couldn’t live with his status, then, that would be a pity, but, he would totally understand. He half-expected me to immediately start running in the other direction. I assured him I would do no such thing and congratulated him for being so honest.

We had one or two more conversations after this one. I suppose I was trying to be polite and politically correct- what with all those ant-stigma commercials.  But, very quickly after that revealing conversation, Devon faded from my landscape.

*Name has been changed.

Stay tuned for next SATURDAY's entry.