Twenty-six years ago yesterday, I sent a 3-sentence note to a man on an online dating site. Twenty-six years ago today, he read my note and responded. And that’s when the story of “us” began.
It’s hard to believe 26 years have passed since I e-“met” the man who would become the Love of My Life. A man who, at the time, lived all the way on the other side of the country in California.
It was a strange and different world back then. Lots of new, up-and-coming technologies, like personal computers, pagers, cell phones, chat rooms, and “internet dating.” And the internet dating thing was definitely still new and scary then.
Back then, the site options were few, security seriously lacking, and the pool of prospective “dates” was, well, sketchy.
So, not being really sure (at all) what I was doing, I signed up for a paid 3-month subscription on the (now-defunct) Christian Connection Matchmaker service. But I didn’t really do much with it and pretty much ultimately just let it lapse.
But several months later, on a particular day in 1998, June 26th to be exact, I just felt very strongly like I needed to get back on it THAT day. I needed to sign back up for another 2-week free trial.
It was a Friday and I had worked a bit late. Everyone else had already gone home. I just stayed a little longer to start my new profile, but it was getting late, so I decided to go home and finish it there.
Now, I don’t remember exactly what time I finished, but by that point, I do remember it was sometime o-dark-Saturday.
Once I was signed up again, I determined that I was actually going to read some profiles and write to, well, someone, before the time was up.
So I spent Saturday reading through a bunch of them and decided to write to eight. I wrote a very short, 3-sentence message and sent it out. It was something like, “I liked your profile. Read mine. If you like it, please write me back.”
Shockingly, I got quick responses from all eight guys.
But the response that struck me the most was from the one guy I honestly almost didn’t write to — because I thought his name sounded, um, “old.” At that point, it was Sunday, June 28th, and that response was from my Herbie.
We found each other that day and the rest, as they say, is history.
The most interesting thing about us actually making this connection was the timing. Herbie’s account was just days from lapsing and he felt like he needed to check it — just one last time. And I was waiting there for him.
I wrote my new profile a bit differently than the first one. So, given the amount of time it took for me to re-do all of this, if I had waited even a day to sign up again or to send my message, we would never have found each other.
We don’t believe in coincidence, but we do totally and completely believe it was a God thing. Thank you, Lord, for this life you’ve blessed us with. ❤️
Looking back at the path our lives have taken through the years — the good and the bad, the ups and the downs, the laughter and the tears — I still know there’s nobody I would rather have spent them with.
We’ll celebrate our 25th wedding anniversary in October, but we also always celebrate every e-versary as an especially special occasion. It’s a cherished reminder every year of the story that became “us.” Yeah, we’re just kinda “gooey” that way.
Happy 26th E-versary, Baby!! Looking forward to continuing this crazy life adventure with YOU!
And our epic, most challenging adventure yet is coming in August! (And it’s a hard one to pack for!) We’ll celebrate THREE major milestones in a single trip! 😃 (Well, three for me and two for Herbie.) But that exciting part of our story is “to be continued.”
This adventure is set to begin August 21st! So come back later to hear, as Paul Harvey would say, “the rest of the story.”
👩💻🌎👨💻 💾🖨 ✈️ 💌💕💒🫶
It’s hard to believe 26 years have passed since I e-“met” the man who would become the Love of My Life. A man who, at the time, lived all the way on the other side of the country in California.
It was a strange and different world back then. Lots of new, up-and-coming technologies, like personal computers, pagers, cell phones, chat rooms, and “internet dating.” And the internet dating thing was definitely still new and scary then.
Back then, the site options were few, security seriously lacking, and the pool of prospective “dates” was, well, sketchy.
So, not being really sure (at all) what I was doing, I signed up for a paid 3-month subscription on the (now-defunct) Christian Connection Matchmaker service. But I didn’t really do much with it and pretty much ultimately just let it lapse.
But several months later, on a particular day in 1998, June 26th to be exact, I just felt very strongly like I needed to get back on it THAT day. I needed to sign back up for another 2-week free trial.
It was a Friday and I had worked a bit late. Everyone else had already gone home. I just stayed a little longer to start my new profile, but it was getting late, so I decided to go home and finish it there.
Now, I don’t remember exactly what time I finished, but by that point, I do remember it was sometime o-dark-Saturday.
Once I was signed up again, I determined that I was actually going to read some profiles and write to, well, someone, before the time was up.
So I spent Saturday reading through a bunch of them and decided to write to eight. I wrote a very short, 3-sentence message and sent it out. It was something like, “I liked your profile. Read mine. If you like it, please write me back.”
Shockingly, I got quick responses from all eight guys.
But the response that struck me the most was from the one guy I honestly almost didn’t write to — because I thought his name sounded, um, “old.” At that point, it was Sunday, June 28th, and that response was from my Herbie.
We found each other that day and the rest, as they say, is history.
The most interesting thing about us actually making this connection was the timing. Herbie’s account was just days from lapsing and he felt like he needed to check it — just one last time. And I was waiting there for him.
I wrote my new profile a bit differently than the first one. So, given the amount of time it took for me to re-do all of this, if I had waited even a day to sign up again or to send my message, we would never have found each other.
We don’t believe in coincidence, but we do totally and completely believe it was a God thing. Thank you, Lord, for this life you’ve blessed us with. ❤️
Looking back at the path our lives have taken through the years — the good and the bad, the ups and the downs, the laughter and the tears — I still know there’s nobody I would rather have spent them with.
We’ll celebrate our 25th wedding anniversary in October, but we also always celebrate every e-versary as an especially special occasion. It’s a cherished reminder every year of the story that became “us.” Yeah, we’re just kinda “gooey” that way.
Happy 26th E-versary, Baby!! Looking forward to continuing this crazy life adventure with YOU!
And our epic, most challenging adventure yet is coming in August! (And it’s a hard one to pack for!) We’ll celebrate THREE major milestones in a single trip! 😃 (Well, three for me and two for Herbie.) But that exciting part of our story is “to be continued.”
This adventure is set to begin August 21st! So come back later to hear, as Paul Harvey would say, “the rest of the story.”
👩💻🌎👨💻 💾🖨 ✈️ 💌💕💒🫶