He used to be my best friend’s husband. They had been divorced 10 years, but I would write a couple times a year just to check on him and see how things wee going. One time I wrote to him, my marriage was ending. I always only saw him as a good friend, so it was a surprise when we found out how much we had in common. We wrote to each other for seven months, made plans to go to Kansas City for a week and had a wonderful time together. We hated having to leave each other. I moved to Arkansas to be with him in January.

—Joyce

Postscript: We celebrated our 8-year Anniversary this year. Still happy and in love. Oh, by the way, we were married at age 53 and are now both 60 years young.

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I had dated him for a short time a few years back, and it didn’t work out. I went out to a bar with my roommate and proceeded to get very drunk. I saw him, said hello, and told him to come back to my place with me. He was gone when I woke up hungover the next morning, and I was actually grateful for it. Later that day, he called my roommate’s phone (I never gave him my number) and asked to come hang out and watch Family Guy with me. I thought there must be something special about a guy who still wants to be with me when I’m at my worst.

—Melanie

Postscript: It’s been 3 years and we just got engaged. Sometimes you gotta give a guy another chance.

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We met online, then phone, we met up for a date. He had all the qualities I had been looking for and when he kissed me not even 10 minutes after meeting me, I knew this was something special. Everything with him was comfortable, like it was meant to be. We had another date on Friday and then on Monday, he called me on his lunch and said he just didn’t feel excited like he thought he should be about a new relationship. He wanted to stay friends and hoped I would keep in touch. I was devastated and hurt far more than I thought I should be. After a few days, I called him and asked if we could just continue to hang out without worrying about putting a label on what we were doing. Two months later, he asked if I would come meet his friends since we were dating now. He just slipped it in the conversation and I just smiled and said sure. And we’ve been together ever since.

—Kari

Postscript: It’s been 9 months and we now live together. He told me later that he realizes now that he saw the possibility of what could be and it scared him. He thought about how it would hurt if it didn’t work out and ran from us. He has told me so many times how thankful he is that I stuck it out. I’ve never been more in love and we’re planning on getting married some day.

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I knew him since I was 13. I was the ugly fat chick with braces and fuzzy hair. I worked with him and we were friends, but just friends. I didn’t think he could like a girl like me. I was 200 pounds. I had a crush on him though. While working together he told me he was going to marry Gretchen Wilson someday, which was funny since I love Gretchen and her song “Redneck Woman.” Anyway we started going out after I ended a bad relationship. But he started acting distant, then he told me he had something to tell me, he told me he loved me, this was at 18. We got married 9-6-06. On our wedding day I was 145 pounds and am now 130. I know he loves me because he stood by me through thick and thin.

—Charity

Postscript: Three years together and still in love, just bought a house. I’m still his redneck woman.

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We talked on the phone every day for hours. I told her everything I was ever thinking, and she did the same. It got to the point where we knew exactly what the other was thinking/feeling.

—E.M.

Postscript: We were together almost 2 years, but distance and college got the best of us. I still hope to spend the rest of my life with her.

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I met him through a friend of mine – he happened to be dating her at the time, and from the moment I laid eyes on him, I hated him. He was persistent in talking to me, even if we fought constantly, and eventually he started to grow on me a little. I didn’t realize how much until one night, in a moment of total stupidity, we ended up in a threesome with a mutual friend that ended up getting cut short… and when we were supposed to pick up where we left off the next day, the other girl never showed, we made incredible love, and have never looked back.

—Kayla

Postscript: We’re getting married, and going to have the most incredible life together ever.

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My boyfriend isn’t one to show his insecurities. Yet, one night, while we were lying in bed, he looked at me. He looked so happy and blissful and was showing a side of him that looked so vulnerable. I knew he loved me and after continuously surprising me…I knew he was the one. And how in love I felt.

—B

Postscript: We are still going strong, and talk about our future together. I still can’t believe out of 6 billion people, I got to find him and how surreal it can sometimes feel.

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