(please see above)
So, let me catch you up on what has happened since the last time we met. Fair warning: You might want to bring some non-perishables with you before you start reading. This one might go long.
Since 2009, I went through a divorce and moved to Southern Illinois with my youngest son. I lost my grandmother, and got sick myself. Then I got better. My son started public school and I started looking for work. I found a job that provided tuition remission and started commuting to St. Louis, because I promised my boy that we wouldn't do another major move for the school year. And one keeps the promises one makes to one's sons. We moved to Missouri, and I started finishing my degree.
I wound up meeting Mr. Right, who turned out to be Mr. Wrong. But in that process, I also met one of my best friends. We shall call her Ya Ya. Ya Ya and I have been together through laughter, tears and certainly through my very worst times. She promised me that God had better things in store for me. Which was a nice thought, but I was a little scurred of the word better. She told me to make a list of what I wanted...which was pretty easy. No older than 50, sincere, similar values, someone I can really talk to, active, someone who makes me laugh (and more importantly, makes me smile), financially responsible, who would be good to my boys.
My mom told me the same thing. She said, "You need to find a good man....I think someone who has lost his wife.....someone who will commit the way you will." Nice thought, Mom. Know any 44-50 year-old widowers?
A couple of friends told me to try Match.com. After all, the 80s were awhile ago, and this is how it is done now. It was worth a try. After all, I wasn't meeting Mr. Right at the grocery store. (For the record, I tried. I even tried switching up the times I went. He wasn't there, people.) Nor could I see myself walking into a bar and locking eyes with him across a crowded room. Where I live, that little Cinderella story would have an ending that would make Jeff Foxworthy cry. Nope. Match it was.
So, I put up a profile. I went through a lot of emails. Some were cute, some were funny, some would have made Hannibal Lector proud. I went on some first dates, a couple of seconds...and it was okay. Nothing great. But okay. And I was moving forward. I had my feet under me and my head back on. So life was decent.
Then I received an email entitled, "We Have Similar Interests". It got my attention right away. It was well written, sincere.....and I found myself smiling. And boy, did we ever have similar interests. I wound up writing back. He was a 45 year old man who had lost his wife the previous year, with an adorable four year-old. The more we talked, the more we wanted to. We are still looking for differences. There haven't been many.
Mr. Right (who is indeed soooooo Mr. Right) met Ya Ya and passed muster. He met my son and he grew to think the world of him. He met the family and they love him. Needless to say, I love him too. In this day and age, it is a wonderful blessing to find a man who will look you in the eye and speak sincerely, with his heart on his face. Ya Ya told me I had found the guy who had everything on the list, and she is right. I had to move half a continent to find my education, my adopted sister and the man I am making a family with. It was worth every moment. I am blessed indeed.
