You just never know where love is 'lurking'...

One of the local radio stations is running a competition to coincide with Valentine's Day. People are asked to send in 'how they met' stories. Once I entered a similar competition, telling the story of how Mr Next Stage and I met. The company running the competition liked my story so invited us to 'tell our story' on A Current Affair. We were also offered a chance to feature in a Valentine's Day feature in the Courier Mail. The short story is that we declined both offers; the reason being that you just never know how the 'story' will go and we had to consider our families and their reactions.

But you've probably guessed that that introduction was all about that I'm ready to share our story here on the blog. It is 11 years ago now, this very month.

I know many people who talk very disparagingly about others finding partners on the internet...some people get quite heated when discussing this subject...but that's how we met. It was not a dating site I must point out.
One day DD2 suggested I join a site called Schoolfriends.com.au. I was not really interested but had a bit of a look at the site and found some  classmates and some former students who had registered with the site. Suddenly I was very interested and sent messages to these people. I had a wonderful time catching up with all these people. A few weeks later, I even found an 'old boyfriend' from school days. We sent so many emails in just a short space of time and we organised for a phone call. Hah hah...nup! that wasn't ever going to work! lol

A little while later I saw a familiar name on the site...would he remember me? I was 2 years younger than him in a school of over 900 students...When I was in Grade 6, I thought he was pretty special. Throwing caution to the wind, I decided to send him a message to say hello. After all we went to the same school, I taught 2 of his daughters when I was on a contract to their school, my DD1 went to high school with 2 of his daughters and finally, his cousin had been my friend for nearly 30 years. So our paths had wound around close to each other for a while. He didn't remember me but wrote back filling me in on what his daughters were doing then. He also said that he was single again, like so many people . Romance was the fartherest thing from my mind...but when he found out that I loved theatre, we'd found a common bond. He asked me out...

This is us at our school's 100 years celebratory dinner. Our music teacher is sitting behind me.

He took me to a performance at the  Arts Theatre and we talked in the courtyard before the show and then at intermission. He was so easy to talk to and with. The next time we went out it was my 'shout'. I initiated that outing because I found as the weeks went on since the theatre outing, that he was starting to intrigue me. We went to Earth and Sea restaurant...we talked and talked...we had so much in common...then we noticed we were the only ones in the restaurant and that the staff had been putting the chairs up on the tables... (I must add that on a Sunday night this place is closed by 9.30 at the latest, so it wasn't that late! lol)

Not long after we met, I went along to a family celebration for the  DH's brother when he turned 55.  He's the one in the middle. This was the first time I'd met his family. My future SIL, Mary, in red, 'told me to run while I still had the chance'...I think she was joking! 

Yep! Something had happened that night... and the rest is history. This history included challenges caused by children and various insecurities...but we faced all that together. We met in the February and later in the year, my new special friend went to PNG for a tour of duty. I house sat for him, taking care of the pets, the house, day to day issues with children etc...and when he came home...DD2 and I stayed. I'm still here! lol

When the future DH came home from PNG, I arranged for a former colleague, Kevin, to take me out to the airport in his beautifully restored 1929 Buick and back home again of course...it was quite a surprise for the  DH!

 DH loved my nephews as much as I did...when possible, he would watch them play football.

 When I first met him, he would not miss golf on Sunday for anything...and I accepted that and just did what I wanted to do. But then, the odd Sunday he didn't play but instead joined in what I was doing either on my own or with the girls...
That's why one Sunday before he went to PNG, he went up to Warwick with DD2 and I for a baptism. DD2 was the godmother for her friend's baby.

 Yep! I reckoned he was (and is!) the one.

Happy Valentine's Day to all!