Until approximately my senior year of high school, I was romantically hopeless. Prior to that I managed to both seek after chances I didn't have and blow all the ones I had. Probably the biggest contributing factor to this is simply being useless at social interaction in person, and constant failure compounded my lack of confidence. Senior year I met a girl online, we hit it off despite myself, and although it didn't work out in the end, it made me believe in myself again. Thus bolstered I managed to turn the situation around from then on.
I will say I've had few actual relationships, but a number of...well, let's call them dates. I've met everyone I've ever dated online in one way or another, with one exception. For my current relationship, and the majority of my dates prior to it, that was a dating site. I've been rather awkward in person until I get to know someone for most of my life, and beginning online lets me counteract that. Plus, I type better than I talk.
I didn't get my first serious girlfriend until 19. We met online, though I'll gloss over where. Although we cared for each other (at least for the majority of the relationship), we were founded for all intents on one principle. We exercised that principle in enough locales to begin a bingo sheet. I won't elaborate, but I will share this: For what I did on church grounds, if there is a God, I'm going to hell.
At some point we moved in together. Unfortunately that signaled the beginning of the end; turns out we weren't compatible day-to-day, and frankly she got sick of me. Despite my best efforts, within six months we were through. The morning after it was made official I woke up to find she'd taken all her clothes and half my DVDs with her to live with a friend. The friend had been recently married; within a week my ex was having an affair with the husband. Meanwhile, I never saw my special edition Fight Club DVD again.
For two years afterward I simply dated casually. At least once it nearly progressed to a serious relationship, but most times it ended decidedly more casually. I broke a few hearts, I had mine broken a few times, life persisted.
My current girlfriend, as I said, I met through a dating site. She lives with her family in a rural area an hour and a half from me, and our first meeting was at her house when her parents weren't home. Now this is a story I really must share.
By this time we'd already hit it off online, so it went pretty great. We went swimming, we made out for an hour or more on the back porch, I got to second base, and we watched a lovely sunset together. All in all a marvelous evening. However we both lost track of time, and her family returned home with just enough warning that we could make ourselves seem innocent, but not enough that I could escape. Thus, with little other option, I did the unthinkable - I stood on the porch and I greeted each member of her family as warmly as I could as they went in the house. Even shook a few hands. I wasn't invited inside, but I managed to pull it off smoothly enough (or at least astonish them enough with my bravery and/or audacity) that nobody got in any major hot water.
We've been dating ever since.
I'm also pleased to say we've done nothing but grow stronger over time. It was worth standing my ground that night, girl's amazing.
So yeah. I've had fun.