The Downfall of Donna Reed

Picture if you will, if you CAN, that wonderful model woman, Donna Reed. A beautiful woman, always dressed so well; full-skirted shirtwaist dress, hose, high heels, pearls. Never a hair out of place, she managed a household, two children, a husband and helped with her husband's medical practice. Fast forward 40 years and you have ME. I am the modern equivalent of Donna. Without being immodest, I am a perfect wife and mother. I have a profession in which I am highly regarded. I have been faithful to my husband for 24 years. The only problem is that I have been married for 25 years.

About a year ago, I began hearing of the evils online chatting involved. Perfectly good and faithful spouses were falling prey to the temptations of cyberlife. I listened with horror, my friends and I shocked by the changing morals of the computer age.

Being a fair-minded person, I decided to check it out for myself. I asked my children to teach me computer skills....basics like turning it on and finding things. On my own, I began to explore. I found so much information and interesting sites, I couldn't believe this wasn't enough for other people.

One day, I found the chat rooms. This still seemed pretty innocent. People meeting to discuss knitting and cooking tips. I found myself visiting chat rooms frequently and made many nice female friends there.

One of those friends, Lisa suggested that I try the Member Rooms. She was a housewife and mother, but seemed restless. I could tell she wasn't content with her life like I was.

I was sitting here one day with nothing to do and decided to try the Member Rooms. I picked "Romance" and pressed the enter button. The categories were so different. Instead of Cooking or Sewing, the topics were Cyberchat and Women Who Fuck. I certainly felt like Alice down the rabbit hole. But I decided to continue with my exploration. I entered a room entitled "Men With Minds". I sat quietly and read the speedily scrolling words and phrases. It was totally confusing. Letters flew by and I didn't have a clue what they meant....LOL, ROFL, TTFN. It reminded me of my first day in French class when the teacher had insisted on speaking only French and we were totally lost. In amazement, I saw that about 10 people were carrying the conversation and seemed to understand what was being said. Suddenly a box appeared in the corner of the screen. The name "Fascination" appeared, followed by the word, "Hello!"

I stared at the cursor, not entirely sure what to do. Then I typed "Hi!" Suddenly, the little box took on a life of it's own. Fascination commented that he liked my screen name, "DonnaReed2". He was familiar with her and her wonderful skills as a woman, wife and mother. At first, I was hesitant to answer his questions, giving yes and no answers. But he was incredibly funny, witty and charming. He was also very polite. He reassured me that I had nothing to fear from him, he was only looking for some interesting company. I relaxed after that and even found myself giggling from time to time. It was so easy. He was comfortable to chat and share things with. We played 20 Questions, learning about each other. I found myself disappointed when I had to go. He promised to look for me again and explained about the Buddy List. He told me how to add his name to it and told me he would be back online in the morning, if I wanted to chat some more.

The next morning, as soon as my family left, I signed online. There, in my buddy list, was Fascination! I found myself smiling as I stared at his name. As if by magic, the box appeared on the screen with a big smiley face in it.

So it started. We met every morning to discuss our previous evening. He talked about his kids and the problems he was having. I asked his opinion on work-related situations. The chat gradually became more personal. It seemed so natural to tell him how I would lie on my bed and read a book, describing to him exactly how I arranged my pillows and how I supported the book. He told me which CDs he enjoyed and why. We started taking the opinion of the other very seriously. If he recommended a book, I bought it. We listened to the same music at the same time. We shared stories of our childhoods, vaguely remembered memories that made us feel even closer. There was nothing we didn't discuss. I felt so close to Michael. I could tell him anything without fear of censure. We started talking about our spouses, first in glowing terms and then, as we knew each other better, we were able to share the things that annoyed or hurt us. It was wonderful being able to share. I found myself telling him what I missed in my marriage. Michael told me what he felt he needed in a relationship. Our friendship deepened.

We were typing busily one day when he asked if he could call me. My heart leapt in my chest. Deep inside me, where I rarely ventured to go, I knew I was developing loving feelings for this man. He was everything I had ever wanted in a friend, lover or mate. What would talking on the phone do to that relationship? I knew the answer, I also knew I could not wait much longer before talking to him. With shaking fingers, I typed in my phone number. There was a long pause and then he typed, "In 5 minutes."

I stared at the screen for a long time, trembling. Then, like a sleep walker, I stood up and moved to my bedroom. I made sure the house alarm was activated and then settled on the bed, waiting for his call.

To Be Continued...