Sarah Dill and her boyfriend Ben.

Online dating comes in many forms. But who knew a Web site as salacious as Chatroulette could render a real relationship? Sarah Dill, a senior at New York's Fashion Institute of Technology, shares her sweet story of how her now boyfriend went from Internet stranger to man of her dreams. As told to Dara Adeeyo.



By Sarah Dill



It started on February 19, 2012 when I was hanging out in my friend's dorm room. It was late and her other friend popped open her laptop and suggested we go on Chatroulette just for fun. I had never been on the site, but always thought it was a place where most people only had the intentions of flashing their goods. (Chatroulette is a place where you can interact with random strangers around the globe via Webcam.)



We got started and crossed paths with some pretty, um, interesting people: A super drunk dude with a British accent, and so, so, sooo many weird men dancing (what's up with that?!). Several sudden clicks later, we came to a guy with a guitar named Ben. High off of the craziness we had just endured from previous Chatrouletters, we demanded he play us a song but his microphone wasn't working. But when he did strum us a tune, he sounded exactly like Darth Vader. Hilarious! Three hours later, we were still talking and laughing with him. At the end of our chat, we all decided to become Facebook friends. Afterwards, I went to bed and didn't really think too much about him. I just thought it was funny that we were talking to someone for so long.



Two days later, Ben and I began interacting with each other on Facebook. He commented on a picture of mine that I took while I was in California visiting my sister. I soon realized he was from California, near where my sister lives. Less than a week later, we started Facebook messaging about music (I love indie music, he's more into punk rock), movies, traveling, and so much more. I felt like I was talking to a friend I had known for years.



After messaging for hours and hours, he made the first move to take our talking offline. At the end of the conversation, he gave me his number and said, "If you want, you can text me to finish our conversation." Our texting convos turned into phone calls, and then into daily Skype sessions. Although I knew he was so far away (all the way across the country, to be exact), and that I was getting to know him through the Internet, I felt a real connection between us that was more than a friendship. It was about a month since we first met online and Ben said that he had to meet me in-person. He then booked his first flight ever to New York. (I couldn't believe he was flying over 3,000 miles to meet me!)



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He came to visit me in the middle of March. I was shaking while waiting to pick him up from the airport. I was at baggage claim when I turned to my right to see the guy I knew through a computer screen come and run over to me for a hug. We embraced and my legs and heart felt like they were about to explode. There were no awkward moments between us.



Since it was his birthday, I took him out to an Indian restaurant (which you could say was our first real date). We laughed, shared a dessert, and bonded over our love for Indian food. I then dropped him off at his hotel and couldn't get him out of my head. Ben spent the week in New York and I showed him around to all of my favorite spots. But two days into his trip, he gave me one of my first real "big girl" kisses on the city sidewalk. It really was perfect, but I was sad he only had five days to spend with me.



We did everything that I dreamed of doing as a city couple: Took walks in the park, held hands for the first time on the High Line, got Billy's Bakery cupcakes (arguably the best in the city) to eat under the sun, and spent hours talking in restaurants.



Two nights before his flight, we talked for hours and decided we wanted to be together. But then came the inevitable question: What we were going to do about the long distance between us? We both knew that it was going to be hard, but agreed that we couldn't just forget the feelings that we felt for each other. We agreed to try it out and see how it would work. It was hard to say goodbye that March, but ever since then, we try to travel to each other about every two or three months.



We've now been dating for over a year and I couldn't be happier. We're in love. I just know that if we stay together, one of us is eventually going to have to relocate. Nonetheless, Ben and I are living proof that among the penis pics and guys dancing, real love can indeed be found on Chatroulette!



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