3 Year Anniversary

Today marks 3 years since Mike first emailed me. If you've read my 100 Meme then you know that Mike and I met online. Yes, we are one of "those" couples. I was very newly separated and Mike had been separated for about 9 months. I was just looking to see what was out there in the dating world, I hadn't dated in 6 years and I wanted to know if I still had "it". But I knew I didn't want to go to a smoky bar to meet some gross guy that only wanted one thing. I knew I didn't want to expose my 1.5 yr old daughter to a parade of icky unworthy men. So I turned to the internet, a safe haven, where I could look and be seen but not really be vulnerable unless I wanted to be, when I wanted to be. And I quickly discovered that I still did indeed have at least a little bit of "it". And I got gross icky guys asking me if I like to be pampered (blech!!).

And then I got this email:

April 22^nd 1025pm

I'm in the same raft as you. Separated, divorce soon. You seem smart and harmless (looking for an e-mail buddy). Me; the same. :)

I know I'm older, but we have some things in common (see profile) and this isn't for dating purposes anyway. So, if you'd like to laugh out loud and smile a lot, just let me know.

-Michael

And I checked his profile. And he wasn't super cute in the face (Mike is actually very handsome but NOT photogenic!) but he had some muscles and his interests were more than video games and science fiction, so I emailed him this:

April 22^nd 1043pm

Hi,

I like laughing out loud and smiling a lot. And most importantly I like harmless.

I went to high school in E. Cobb county. I admire your ability to live around ATL. I love to visit but I could not deal with the traffic and craziness everyday. It would be hard to not get jaded living there.

Thanks for emailing me =)
Jen

And so our love began. We emailed back and forth for a while after the first email. And then we exchanged phone numbers, and then we met for the first time. Mike and Bailey came to my parent's farm on their way back from the beach and the girls played while Mike and I chatted and tried to keep ourselves in check. We had an instant connection from the emails to the phone to in person. It all just happened so fast and was so right from the very start and at every turn. I couldn't believe Mike was real. I kept looking for the faults, for the hidden problems. But he is perfect for me. Not perfect in general (who is?), but perfect for me. We have faced a lot of hardships as a couple in our 3 years but through it all we have been each other's rock. Truly. It sounds gushy mushy but our relationship has never wained, never been in question. It has felt like the outside world is crazy but between just he and I we are always on track, always together, always in love.

Happy Anniversary Mike, I love you!

This is Mike the first time I met him at my parent's farm house. Love at first sight fo sho!!

P.S. As part of this Anniversary we have a tradition of rereading all our emails to each other in the first months that we were dating. It is really fun to relive the excitement of getting to know each other and falling for each other.