Thank you both for the advice. I agree completely with meeting in a public place, letting someone know, etc., I wouldn’t meet under any other circumstances. I meant more of what he is saying, but he’s been so honest about his life, even about things that are not easy to accept, but I’m understanding because I’ve had my own problems so I won’t judge. I’m not sure who I would tell, though, because I don’t have any friends right now. I know people in the community I live, though- not friends, but acquaintances from my support group and stuff who if I absolutely had to tell I might be able to.
As for meeting soon, I’m not sure that I’m comfortable with that. Even though I’ve read that you are supposed to meet soon, I don’t really agree with that. I like talking to him online and I’d like to speak with him over the phone for a while and see what happens. Like I said, I wasn’t looking for a relationship and so if we become friends and just talk I don’t see anything wrong with that either. I’m still hesitant because I’m working on a lot of things in my life and trying to improve my circumstances, and we connected completely by chance, so I don’t see anything wrong with taking a couple of months or so to talk before possibly meeting.
The tough thing about this is that, even with phone conversations I will have to leave my house because I know that my family member is going to be questioning who I’m talking to. While I would understand that concern, they tend to try to get overly involved in my life and decisions, which I don’t like very much, especially because they themselves have gone on dating sites and have met people in real life. My living situation (going off topic) is something that has bothered me for a long time because despite the fact that I love this family member, they can be overbearing, critical, intrusive, and negative to be around. We both have agreed that our living situation isn’t working out and hasn't for years. I'm hoping to live closer to my university campus and share a place with another student or someone who is positive and mature.