Dawn Elizabeth Payson
May 16, 1971     -     March 29, 1999

BRIEF HISTORY
This page is mostly a placeholder right now. But some basics:
May 16, 1971
Born
February 2, 1998
First contact with future husband: [via match.com]
February 5, 1998
First met future husband [Barnes & Noble in Lemont]
June 5, 1998
Engaged to be married
October 11, 1998
Married at Saint John's Episcopal Church in Naperville, IL
March 29, 1999
Died of pulmonary thrombosis (blood clot in lungs)
Dawn's profile on match.com read like this:
anon.Delphina

Finally! Intense Chicago Woman Updates 2-year-old Profile!!!

27 year-old female, located in western suburbs of Chicago, seeking 21 to 35 year-old male for short-term relationship or long-term relationship; or male or female for email pen-pal or activity partner.

Impromptu as always, I got two messages tonight from match.com guys and realized my profile still said I was 24. How embarrassing! I'll be 27 in May and while I have met some interesting guys here, I haven't yet met any that I'm still dating. (Think what you will...) I enjoy reading, writing, water aerobics & working out at my health club. Note that this does *not* mean I'm anywhere near being slender! I'm a reasonably happy & well-adjusted fat woman with dark brown, straight-ish hair and hazel eyes. I wear makeup & heels & nylons & skirts during the day and prefer jeans & pants & birkenstocks the rest of the time. I'd like to tell you what I'm looking for, but I haven't yet found him! Could he be you? I like spending time with my dog, seeing good movies, browsing bookstores & libraries, hanging out with my writer's group and work friends, and playing with magnetic poetry. I'd like to meet a guy who has struck a balance between thinking he's butt-ugly and god's gift to women; looks aren't what will matter when your teeth are in a glass on the nighttable and foreplay consists of batting me with your cane... Oh yeah, I have a weird sense of humor and I appreciate that in a guy. Also, being a gentleman and asking politely before you launch your tongue down my throat really impresses me. ;-) If I haven't pissed you off yet, please write!

I wrote to her, noticing in particular that she (according to match.com) lived about 3 miles away. I wasn't really concerned about romantic potential--I just figured it would be nice to have someone with whom to talk and do things rather than going to movies by myself or wasting time at the computer. Little did I realize that behind that on-screen profile was an absolutely wonderful sweetie.