Your Dad's Girlfriend

written by your dad's girlfriend

I was 8 years old when my dad started dating Tara.

My dad met Tara in an online chatroom back when computers used your phone lines and made big static noises. A pair of singles from different states, trying out virtual romance in the era of coffee shop grunge.

My dad’s boxy beige desktop was on the carpeted floor of his post-divorce apartment. We did have a kitchen table, I just don’t think my dad knew what to do with a computer. Like most unattended men, he was just proud to poke holes in the Stouffer’s at five o’clock.

Having a computer keyboard on bristly carpet made for an uncomfortable lay or a supremely arched back, requiring a wrist position and elbow tolerance that no modern person would endure.

For a chatroom love, he persevered.