By Tatum Mitchell | Staff Writer
A spark lit from over 900 miles apart when Dr. Robin Wallace, professor of musicology, and Meg Wallace, adjunct in the Baylor Interdisciplinary Core, first met each other online. The now-married couple connected in 2011 through an internet discussion group that sparked from a blog of Sojourners magazine.
“We met online, but in a very strange way,” Meg said. “It was just this group of readers of that magazine who really enjoyed talking about politics and faith, and then we really got to know each other and became dear friends to one another.”
From the online group, Meg and Robin became Facebook friends from afar — Meg living in Chicago with her kids and Robin working at Baylor three state lines away. Both were facing personal struggles when they became friends. Robin’s previous wife, Barbara, had passed away, and Meg’s divorce was finalizing. By the end of 2012, both had been single for over a year.
Meg said she noticed how highly regarded Robin was by his students, colleagues and friends online. She said she read his reflections he had linked on Facebook about his experience with Barbara’s passing.
“I could just see he is an excellent writer,” Meg said. “What came through in those writings was just his real goodness as a husband and father, someone who really cared about his family, and I value those things so much.”
Robin said in November, he woke up in the middle of the night to a Facebook message from Meg. He said he remembers the message said that if they were living in the same place, they would meet up for coffee. Meg went on to ask for Robin’s email address to begin talking.
“My first thought was, ‘Did that really happen or did I just dream that?’” Robin said. “So, I looked again, and the message was still there, so we exchanged emails.”
The couple met in person for the first time in January. Meg said it was like her Facebook page had shown up in the middle of the airport. The Valentine’s Day after, Robin came to Chicago. By July, they were engaged, and they got married in January 2014.
“In February, we were like, ‘You know, this just feels right,’” Meg said.
The pair said it was very important to them both to spend time in each other’s communities. They were deliberate about meeting both of their families, bringing friends into the conversation and getting to know the other’s world.
“It’s the attitude of ‘Your family is my family,’” Meg said. “Even though we haven’t been married for 20, 30 years, we really consider each other available to both sides.”
Now, Robin has been at Baylor for 19 years, and Meg adjuncts in the BIC, teaches GED classes at McLennan Community College and directs a nonprofit called the Amberley Collaborative.
“We dated long distance for a year, and then we got married,” Robin said. “We were married long distance for a year and a half. Then, I got a sabbatical from Baylor, so I was able to spend the 2015-2016 academic year in Chicago with Meg. Then, her younger daughter graduated, and we moved down here. The rest is history.”
