From Friendship to Love

         I was living what may be called a life. I had three children, was newly divorced, and living back with my parents, which had me severely depressed. Friends and family tried to snap me out of it to no avail. Then one day a good friend said, “Christina, I signed you up for Matchmaker.com.” I was extremely upset by this news and started to complain about the audacity of some people. She informed me that I did not have to do anything if I did not want to and that it was there, if I so desired.
          After about 3 days of membership to the site, I decided to check it out. I logged in using the information Stephanie provided. To my surprise, there were twelve emails from men wanting to get to know me better. I read each one and then deleted them all. I went into the search engine and put in what I wanted in a man. A list of 12,000 men came up. At this point, I reasoned to myself this was insanity. I closed out the browser window and went to lie in my bed and mope about the futility of ever meeting a man who would want my three children and me.
         The next morning I woke up and decided that once again I would try to find a man to talk to and spend time. So back into Matchmaker.com, I ventured. This time I was very specific in what I wanted and since this time I put in a state requirement, only 750 men showed up. Once again, I wanted to give up but something stopped me. I decided to let fate and GOD choose for me… and I randomly clicked on a name.
         I laughed when I read what the man had written. He told about himself in a very jovial way and asked a question for woman to answer to let him know they were interested in getting to know him better. Being a sci-fi fanatic, I knew that 299,792,458 in a vacuum is the speed of light. Therefore, I answered his question, told him, “Look at my profile, see if you like it, and let me know.”

          Well within an hour, he responded with “I like what I see but I am a smoker if that is okay with you then write back.” I wrote back that smoking is bad for your health but as long as you do not smoke around me, I am fine with you smoking. He responded back with an Instant Messenger name and told me to log in to Yahoo and we could chat on there. Within an hour of talking in there, we decided we wanted to talk on the phone. He gave me his phone number and I called him.
         We stayed on the phone-talking non-stop for 16 hours! From the very beginning, there was a bond. We were the best of friends in an instant. I asked him if he wanted to go see a movie and we went to see “Red Dragon”. Who knows what that movie was about since we were both much too busy chatting and making out like teenagers. Must have been hormones, but whatever caused this attraction has lasted. Not only has it lasted through my meeting his family and his meeting my children, but also it has lasted through his father getting sick and us taking care of him and then the death of his dad just recently. The bond we have is much stronger then just girlfriend/boyfriend. The bond we have is for life. We are “Best Friends.”
         No matter what the future holds, I know that he will be there for me, as I am there for him. He steadfastly supports my going back to school while he watches my three girls. He has put his needs to the back burner so mine can be met. The truest test of friendship and a relationship is can it survive while people are not together? This one has proven to be strong and true.
         In the not too distant future, when the wedding bells chime, I will know that not only am I marrying the man I love, but I am also marrying my best friend. In that lies the difference that will make this marriage work where both our others have failed. Friends forgive each other, accept that there will sometimes be disagreements, but that underneath that there is love, and respect for one another. Love deeply and forever.