It all started with an email. The subject line simply said “Hey, Neighbor”. A few weeks earlier, at 2:30 in the morning, I saw an ad on television for ChristianMingle. My 37 year marriage had ended with the death of my husband a year and a half earlier. With the support of family, friends, and my job, I learned to live the life of a single person, but conversations and companionship were still missing.

I found ChristianMingle’s website to be secure and very user friendly. I filled out my profile and was pleasantly surprised when I got a message from Paul. He, too, lived in my town only about a fifteen minute drive away. We communicated through ChristianMingle’s website for about two weeks until we were comfortable exchanging phone numbers and email addresses.

We played “20 Questions”. No subject was off limits. Paul was a widower, retired and we had a lot in common. His second email to me said that he was leaving to winter in Florida in less than a month. What kind of relationship could we have with us being over 1,000 miles apart?

As it turned out, the trip to Florida was a perfect excuse not to continue our relationship if we felt we had no more in common after finally meeting. However, our dinner date was followed by a text later in the night and plans for a second meeting. We talked by phone, text, email and/or saw each other every day for the next three weeks. All too soon, his motor home and boat were headed to south Florida.

Knowing that God had been in our lives during our previous marriages and that He had never left us during our sorrow, it was so evident that our meeting was part of His plan as well. For the next eight weeks, we talked every night for at least two hours. We shared family stories, childhood memories and what we thought the future held for us. We laughed. We continued the “20 Questions” game and we started falling in love with one another. Our phone calls would be followed by a “good night” message only to be awakened with a “good morning” text.

On Valentine’s Day 2013, I received a beautiful bouquet of roses. It was followed by a phone call that the boat was out of the water, the motor home packed and heading north. Paul would be home in less than 12 hours. I accepted his wedding proposal less than a week later. We were married on May 18, 2013, in the presence of our families and close friends. We hope our 50th Wedding Anniversary celebration is as much fun as our wedding and every day we have spent together since.