April Fools

14 May 2010: Ed and I on the day we met in person.

Ed didn't realize it at the time, but the first time he contacted me on LDS Singles Online was on April 1, 2010, April Fools' Day.

At the time, I was writing to a couple of other men.  Then this message from "wrench25" arrived in my LDSSO message box:

"Hi, The beliefs that I read in your profile belong to the lady I am searching for. However, there is one problem. You surely don't look like you're 55. Have a great day!"

I had recently rewritten my profile and I was pleased by this man's response to what he'd read there.  (To read what Ed saw on my profile, click here.)  I quickly clicked on his profile to check him out.

Ed's profile picture

I don't recall everything I read about him in his profile, but I remember he was 49 years old, with dark brown hair and brown eyes, 6' 1" tall, retired, and divorced.  He also mentioned that he was serving in the Young Men presidency in his ward at church.  He described himself as a neatness freak (he is) and said his friends would describe him as the muscles of the group (he is that, too).  The rest of it is kind of a blur to me now.

He had only one photo on his profile, the one attached and enlarged above.  I found it to be rather disappointing because it was tiny and blurry and I couldn't really get a clear idea of what he looked like.  Now, of course, I know it barely even looks like him at all!

This was my profile picture.

Armed with what little I had gleaned from his profile, I saw no reason not to write back to this pleasant stranger. In my guise as "ElfLady," I sent back this reply the very same day:

"Hello there, flatterer! Yes, sad but true, I really am 55 years old. I've just been blessed with good genes, I guess, because everyone thinks I'm in my early 40s until I tell them otherwise. I guess I can't complain about that!
     "I appreciate your kind words. Here's wishing you a great day, too!"

It's funny to think that our marriage, exactly 50 days later, resulted from such humble beginnings! He wrote back a longer letter the following day, I responded in kind, and we began the process of getting to know each other over the next few weeks by email and by phone.  We wrote pretty much everyday, often more than once a day, until we met face-to-face six-and-a-half weeks later.
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And so April Fools' Day has become the anniversary of our meeting, the fateful day we each decided to take another chance on love.  I wish we could celebrate our first online anniversary together, but Ed has been in Wyoming/Colorado since Monday, helping his mom out with repairs and other projects around her home, and he won't be home until sometime late next week.  For now, let me just say:

Happy anniversary, my sweet husband.  Thanks for taking a chance on me.  I love you more than all the emails and blogs in the world can express.  I'm so glad you found me!