Nobody invited me, yet here I am...

[Talulah]

Hi all!

[Brother Daniel]

Security breach! Call security! Panic! Boot her out!

j/k. Welcome. :wave:

[Jobar]

I had thought about waiting until April 1 to let you in. ;)

(For those that don't know, Talulah successfully pulled the greatest April Fools joke *ever*, on the entire Freethinkers Private Forum at II.)

[diana]

I had thought about waiting until April 1 to let you in. ;):notworthy:

[Talulah]

Thank you, thank you....

The parents are still steadfast in their determination to deny they have a daughter. I will have the last laugh however, as I am systematically deconverting the younger members of the family.

It starts with Facebook, where it ends, no one knows.... :D

[Christina]

I had thought about waiting until April 1 to let you in. ;)

(For those that don't know, Talulah successfully pulled the greatest April Fools joke *ever*, on the entire Freethinkers Private Forum at II.)

Well are you going to tell us noobs what it was or leave us guessing?

Hi Talulah : )

[Jobar]

Well are you going to tell us noobs what it was or leave us guessing?

Hi Talulah : )

That has to be up to the lady herself; it *was* in the Private forum, and it involved some quite personal, and perhaps still painful, goings-on.

I will only say that she caught a whole forum of very sharp and very skeptical people completely flat-footed, on the day when everyone is on high alert for such things. :)

[diana]

I won't be able to share the enormity of the buildup for it, which was entirely real, but I'll try: Tal was 22. She'd graduated from college, then moved back with her very controlling (fundy) parents, as they convinced her that this was the only economically reasonable thing to do. From that point, they kept tabs on her every move, to the point of questioning why she got home from work 15 minutes late ("I had to stop to get gas!"), and how long she was on the internet at night, what she was doing, who she was talking to (me ;)). You get the picture. Some of it, at least.

We met. We clicked. She took a huge chance by quitting her job with the state (Louisiana), piling all her valuable goods in her car, and driving to me (California). She did this by telling her parents she was spending the weekend with a friend (one they knew, in town), then carrying her computer, scanner, printer, etc out of the house the morning she left. She'd already mailed several boxes of books she couldn't live without to me, and placed several boxes of important stuff in a friend's garage, which she stopped to pick up on the way out of town. She'd worked up a goodbye/explanation letter to drop in the mail to her parents on the way out of town. Most of this was done with our knowledge (us in the FPF). This apparent melodrama was necessary because she'd tried to leave before, and her father had (1) told all her family and friends that she was on drugs, and (2) pursued her to Illinois. She had no doubt he'd either try to stop her or would pursue her if he knew where she was. Thus, the secrecy.

Well...April 1st, she posted a rather sincere post in the FPF about how her parents had gotten back in touch with her had now they wanted bygones to be bygones, and how she should come back home. She said she was considering it. :) That's all it took.

Speaking of April, know this: that's our seventh anniversary.

d

[Sticky Beak]

That is so similar to my own story that it's scary.

[Jobar]

She was so utterly convincing in her April 1 post; I actually considered the possibility it was a joke, and discounted it, because she was in such an emotionally painful situation I didn't think she *could* joke about it.

Such an interesting mix of chagrined amusement, and admiration for her strength, when I realized that yes, she could! :D

[diana]

That is so similar to my own story that it's scary.I'd like to hear it, when you are so inclined.

d

[diana]

She was so utterly convincing in her April 1 post; I actually considered the possibility it was a joke, and discounted it, because she was in such an emotionally painful situation I didn't think she *could* joke about it.This was the element you had to be there to appreciate. Yes. She was utterly convincing in a situation no one would dare joke about. It was gripping.

And brilliant.

d

[Alethias]

Hi all!Mwah.

Good to see you.

[Sticky Beak]

I'd like to hear it, when you are so inclined.

d

In that my family were ridiculous control-freaks about my life, were midstream theists (not quite fundies but not exactly liberal, either). Amongst other things, they forced me into a course and a university of their choice and I had to be home within 30 mins of class ending. I was permitted no socialising, no talking on the phone for too long, no using the internet at home (to the point that they would hide the modem) etc.

I met someone, clicked and took a huge leap of ... *ahem* faith :D I moved out without telling my family. Over the course of a week or two, I gave my friends some boxes and bags containing my things. The day I left, I sent a letter in a letter to a friend in Ireland and he posted that letter back to my family so that it would bear the Irish postal mark. That way they wouldn't know where I was (they would absolutely have pursued me and did for many months afterwards send me messages that alternated between guilt trips and threats, demanding to know where I was and that I return immediately) but I could still explain that I was okay and why I did what I did.

I ended up on the other side of the world eventually with the clicking person.

[DMB]

Hi Talulah, and welcome to the Secular Café! :wave:

I was one of the people you fooled back then. I don't hold it against you. (Well not all that much. :mad:)

[Cath B]

Hi Talulah

[Moriah Conquering Wind]

Welcome Talulah!

[Ray Moscow]

Hi all!

Howdy!



Speaking of April, know this: that's our seventh anniversary.

d

You guys are a great couple, too.

Coming back to Merry Ole England for another visit, anytime soon?

[Christina]

Speaking of April, know this: that's our seventh anniversary.

I love stories with happy endings : )

[diana]

In that my family were ridiculous control-freaks about my life, were midstream theists (not quite fundies but not exactly liberal, either). Amongst other things, they forced me into a course and a university of their choice and I had to be home within 30 mins of class ending. I was permitted no socialising, no talking on the phone for too long, no using the internet at home (to the point that they would hide the modem) etc.

I met someone, clicked and took a huge leap of ... *ahem* faith :D I moved out without telling my family. Over the course of a week or two, I gave my friends some boxes and bags containing my things. The day I left, I sent a letter in a letter to a friend in Ireland and he posted that letter back to my family so that it would bear the Irish postal mark. That way they wouldn't know where I was (they would absolutely have pursued me and did for many months afterwards send me messages that alternated between guilt trips and threats, demanding to know where I was and that I return immediately) but I could still explain that I was okay and why I did what I did.

I ended up on the other side of the world eventually with the clicking person.Wow! That sounds remarkably like what Tal endured, indeed. (And may I say, the Irish post mark was a stroke of genius. :))

d

[Goldie]

:D Welcome!
Wow! What a story.

[Jobar]

Somewhere in my huge collection of links to old threads, I have one going to the Private Forum thread about Tal's escape from her family; I titled it "Talulah flees across the ice."

I also have one to the April Fool thread.

Sad to think that none of those threads are accessible any more. (Mediancat- hint, hint!)

[reddhedd]

Hi Talulah! long time no see....

redd

[Ronin]

Hey M!!

I've missed you quite a bit.

The garden out back needed some extra work since you were here, but every time I'm out there laboring in the yard I remember you trying to save the green that had been uprooted by Katrina.

You and d need to return to the south for some infidel gumbo or something...real soon.

Happy Anniversary to y'all.

:notworthy: