Well, I've been away for a long time ... and a lot has changed in that time.

As many of you old timers may remember, I was pulled away from Grex when I was
married some years ago.  My then-husband disliked my involvement in this
community, and over time it became simpler to just not fight about it.

Needless to say, my marriage to such a person didn't last long.

Then, with my Grex habit broken, I found that life off-line came to fill my
every free moment.  <grin>  Gads, how could I have let *that* happen!?!?!

Anyway, about 17 months ago, I met a most wonderful (non-controlling) man with
whom I had a great deal in common.  You know the sort -- the person you most
want along on any adventure, and whom you can spend hours talking about
anything from cooking to politics, to religion, to ... well, you name it!  I
found that even sitting quietly in the same room, working on different projects
was fun.  All in all, a very easy man to love!

His name is Rod Smith, and not only is he the world's best companion, he's also
sweet, funny, romantic, socialable (I really ought to bring him to a Grex walk
sometime...) and (imnsho) absolutely gorgeous -- kind of like a big, sweet
tempered Canadian Brown Bear, according to several of my co-workers. He has two
kids about the same age as mine, and I get on very, very well with them.  My
kids, though they haven't actually met him yet (they both live in Europe) seem
to enjoy chatting with him on the phone.

Anyway, it gradually dawned on me that this was the "fantasy man" I had come to
the conclusion couldn't exist, so when he proposed to me I had no reservations
about accepting.

We'll be married in a tiny, private ceremony (5 people, us included) in 8 days.
I'm very, very happy!

25 responses total.

Yay!  I love stories like this!  Welcome back, misti.
PS I was delighted by your Fairwitness answer.  Exactly what I'd been
trying to formulate, but couldn't.

Woo hoo!!!!  Congratulations!!!  May the adventures keep coming and may you
always feel so rich in love.

Thanks for your well wishes!  

I'm glad my fairwitness response echoed what you think, too.  I felt kind of
cheeky coming barging in with such a strong comment after being away, not only
from the conference, but also from Grex for so long.  I really had no way of
knowing how the culture here might have changed...there's nothing worse than an
old-timer who doesn't keep up with the times.  ;)

don't tell him you're a grexer.  man oh man...

Oh, he knows.

He has no idea yet what that means, but he knows.

How did you meet?

We met online (of course!)  <grin>  

We're both astrologers and we were on the same professional astrologers list. 
We'd been chatting back and forth for about a year when we took it offline and
discovered that we had a lot more in common than an interest in astrology.

So, I went to visit him in Adelaide for 10 days.

Then he came to visit me in Ann Arbor for three months ... and then we decided
to get married. 

yay for you!

Will you be living somewhere in the middle of the Pacific Ocean or in
Australia or Ann Arbor?  Glad to hear you were third time lucky.  A friend
of ours met someone perfect on his third try, two, and they like each other's
kids.

Congratulations!

We considered the middle of the Pacific, Sindi, but Rod keeps insisting that
"wet boots is a bad look", so we compromised.  We're going to live here for a
few (five or so, just long enough to pay off the debts from the last marriage,
whcih was a *very* expensive hobby) years and then move back to Australia to be
near his family.

Congratulations. I always like hearing about romantic happiness. :)

I, too, am so happy for you, Misti.  May the rest of your life be filled with
the joy, excitement and anticipation you feel right now.

Happy! Happy!
All the best luck, Misty.
Good to see you back on track.
Grexing from down under, that beats me by far! :)
(who was that Australian guy again?)

Thanks, Lynne, Audrey, and Rick!

I am so amazed that a man like Rod actually exists, much less that he thinks
I'm as wonderful as I think he is.  There are very few "compromises" in being
with him.  None that I can think of offhand.  It's like meeting the person who
just naturally embodies the qualities you fantasized about finding in a mate,
back when you were young enouigh to be idealistic ... and then finding out that
the ways he differs just make him every so much more interesting.  I keep
expecting to wake up any minute now ... but I've known him for a couple of
years and been "involved" for over a year and he just keeps getting better and
better.

It would have taken something like this to convince me to marry again ... I was
feeling like I'm beginning to give the Gabor sisters a run for their
record...but apparently there's something to be said for falling in love when
you're older.  

(Probably TMI, but I'm feeling especially mushy this morning...)

My grandfather married (a year after being widowed) when he was about 72, and
had a happy marriage until they both died in their mid nineties.  I never
could figure out what she saw in him but she had been widowed for thirty years
before they met and had not remarried until then.  Really nice woman but she
was into opera and he was a peasant sort.  Have your kids met Rod (at least
by email or phone?).

"Really nice woman but she was into opera and he was a peasant sort."

Wow, that sound really elitist or something.

(but better than how I first read it: "but she was into opera and he was a
pleasant sort." ;))

My kids have both "met" him by phone, Sindi.  TJ is pretty wrapped up in his
own world, but Rod and Corey have hit it off very well.  They spoke for a
couple of hours last night.

I suppose you could say that my relationship with Rod isn't so very dissimilar
from your Grandfather and his second wife, in a way.  I attend the theatre,
ballet, and opera and all that.  Rod has been a trucker and a cabbie -- a real
working man -- and has never attended any of those things.  But the kinds of
entertainment one seeks doesn't define who one is.  Our parenting styles are
very similar and most of our ideals match up very tidily.  And we do have lots
in common -- it's not always the stuff that would be obvious to outsiders, but
we can talk for hours about anything and everything.  

I have to agree about the entertainment choices. I mean, if everything 
else is good, the types of entertainment one likes seems trivial. 
Although, I have to admit. I do like a guy who will go to a chick 
movie ;)

<laugh>  Oh, Rod will take me to the ballet and the theatre, but I've agreed
that he doesn't have to go the opera, and I don't have to go hunting.  ;)

My grandfather's idea of fun was to make blueberry vodka, or carve decorative
sticks, or poke fun at his second wife who never realized he was trying to
be funny.  I don't think she noticed, either, that he was trying to boss her
around, so they got along well.  She claims she got him to like opera.  (I
think he was fooling her again).  Once my mother and her two brothers got over
the shock of the marriage, they eventually realized what a wonderful person
he had married.  We grandkids noticed a lot sooner - she treated us pretty
much like her other grandkids.  Have you met Rod's kids?

Oh yes, I get along well with both of them.  

Congrats Misti. :)

Thanks, Anne!

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