Centrevill

Before dating apps, before video calls, there was blind faith and DSL.

In late 2004, I met Tamia on BlackPeopleMeet. She lived in Chicago. I was in Brooklyn. For nearly a year, we fell in love through screens, building an entire relationship through website messages, IMs, emails, and text messages. Just a few photos exchanged. No video. No guarantees.

This is the true story of that year, taken directly from my daily journal entries. Every message saved. Every emotion documented. Every late-night conversation preserved exactly as it happened.

From our first message on BlackPeopleMeet to the moment she stepped off the plane in September 2005, this memoir captures a unique moment in dating history. When meeting someone online still felt dangerous, when exchanging photos took courage, and when falling for someone you’d never met seemed insane.

Raw. Honest. Unfiltered.

What happens when virtual love meets reality?
When the person you’ve imagined for a year finally stands in front of you?
When everything you believed was real gets tested in a single weekend?
For anyone who remembers AIM away messages, who fell in love through a laptop screen, or who took that terrifying leap from online to offline—this one’s for you.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ “Brought back memories I forgot I had. Couldn’t stop reading.”
⭐⭐⭐⭐ “The authenticity is incredible – actual journal entries!”
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ “This is how online dating really was”

Based on actual journal entries from 2004-2005. Some names changed. All emotions are real.

Note: Contains adult themes and explicit content.