This is Elita and Cyle’s story.
Elita came to Second Life after seeing and ad. Six years later she is still here. Cyle came to SL to help his sister who was
ill at the time, and seven years later he too is still here.
Elita took a job as hostess for Sweethearts and Cyle was a
regular patron.
Cyle said “I would stand up on the balcony watching the room
when this girl would drop in from the sky and jump on stage and start hosting,
I could watch her for hours.”
In doing her job she would greet the patrons in local chat including
Cyle, and encourage him to come down. He
was a bit offhand about it and he told her “when I have something to come down
for I will be down.” Day after day he continued
watching her come down from the sky, and go about being a hostess.
When the Avi Choice Awards came around, Elita won the best
hostess category. Cyle took the
opportunity to talk to her, but it did not go well because he ended up making
fun of her dancing
Understandably this made Elita angry, so much so that she didn’t
even want to acknowledge him. She added “I
had been through a failed SL marriage before and I was in the, ‘I hate men mode.’
I would cry to my ma over and over and she would tell me you'll know when it
happens and it'll happen when it happens.
I had given up and turned my focus on the one thing I knew wouldn't hurt
me. My work at Sweethearts. When I won
the Avi Choice I think we were all on a high. I had achieved what I had set out
to do and what I promised. I kept that
promise to my parents and still do. Cyle asked me that night to dance and I
believe I said no, so he stood by me until I agreed to dance with him.“
Cyle interjected “This was our first dance... the one that
made it all possible to know she was the one I had been waiting for... After that I would show up and stand on the
balcony and IM her, "what time are you off work I want to take you some
place?" and wait for her answer, never really telling her where I wanted
to take her.”
Elita said she was petrified. “I thought oh gosh don't let
it be his place thinking he's going to get lucky. It just wasn’t going to happen. It turned out that it was a play and then
somewhere to dance. I had never
experienced anything like that before and he was a true gentleman.”
After a time Elita decided to break it off with Cyle. She sent him a Dear John letter. He
said “you know it was one of those that you never want to get... When your
hearts stops and you wonder why... Well I stepped back and just said, do what
you to, I am here if you still want to go on and if not I will understand...
and I stayed out of sight... Just sending little messages to her every day for
her to read... Then she said let’s
talk... Talk we did and been talking ever since... I gave her a Promise Ring
the next night whilst having dinner at Sweethearts...”
Elita explained that the infamous note had been a bad decision
on her behalf, and she still regrets hurting him like that. She had started seeing someone else and
wanted to give him a fair shot. She soon
realised that she had made a mistake and knew it was going nowhere fast. She said “After I realized why he was with me,
I ended it with him and asked Cyle to see me and to talk.”
Cyle asked Elita to marry him on New Year’s Eve at what
turned out to be a spectacular night at Sweethearts. He did the right thing by her asking her parents
for their blessing, which they duly gave but not before receiving a lecture
from her ma first.
On April 29th 2014 they were married in Second Life and so started
a whole new adventure for them. The now have
children, a home and good friends some of whom have moved on and off SL but they
still love what they have.
On April 14th 2015 they redid their vow's, with Shannon
putting together the wedding of their dreams.
Elita said that their original wedding had been amazing but
the renewal was beyond anything she could’ve imagined. The renewal was special. She added “I think I can say this for the
both of us, we are more in love now as on that first date and then some. He can look at me and I smile knowing
everything we have been through and I wouldn't change it for the world.”
When asked what their number one tip to making SL
romances/friendships work, Cyle said “Number 1 Tip to making a SL relationship
work is communication...” and Elita added “Listen and communicate and if you are
like me, and independent all the time, you don't have to be right all the time
and don't nit-pick. And when he says how
he feels don't get mad cause it's not what you want to hear. It took me a while to learn it and I'm still
learning it.”
Belonging to the Sweetheart’s Jazz Club family has brought
Elita love, loyalty, and the desire to be the best. For Cyle it has meant not only being part of
a family, but being part of every romance that happens at Sweethearts. In
conclusion he said “No one can take away what Blake and Shannon brings to each
and every one of us here at Sweethearts... The personal concern for each of us...
The way they go above and beyond for you... to bring the events and making the
special moments happen... You’re a Sweetheart in every way to them…”
