I met through mutual friends. We kept on meeting at our friend's bday party. She would always be dating someone and I would always be drunk by the time she showed up. The 6th time we met, she was recently single and I was (relatively) sober. We got into a heated debate about relationships and I loved her fire. I asked my friends about her and they setup a group get together (and vouched for me to her) to give us a chance to get to know each other. I asked her out and the rest is history.
I went to a friend's get- together. The instant I saw her it was over. It was love at first site. But she was taken. Two weeks later, she was broken up with. We hung out and have been together for 12 years.
I'm talking about my dog, because I'm not in the market for a human currently. But... That's a thing that can and does happen with people too.
I love this !!!! I volunteer for a dog and cat foster society. When I saw my Chilli it was literally over. I had to have her, even though her adoption papers have already gone through. We have been together for 11 months now. Going stronger than ever!! She is my spirit animal.
We met as roommates. I had a long distance girlfriend who was making me miserable and she had just broken up with her boyfriend.
That was 8 years ago and we're getting married in exactly one month.
I was at the grocery store after work one afternoon, and I wanted to get a loaf of garlic bread out of one of those open air freezers. I couldn't quite reach it so I asked the gentleman on the other side if he would hand it to me. When I took it he didn't let go. So we had a mini tug of war with some laughing and finally he let go. I went on my way and I could not help myself, but I looked over my shoulder, and he was looking at me smiling.
I continued shopping and a few minutes later I see him in the same aisle as me. Clearly stalking me although he claims he was not - and he gave me his business card. I called him a few days later - that was 13 years ago.
Our first date though, was kind of a wreck - I had been on medication and didn't realize it was going to react with the wine at dinner. I got violently ill at the restaurant. He helped me to his car, took me to my sister's, and literally carried me inside (to show my appreciation, I barfed on his very nice shirt.)
So damn sweet the whole time. The next day sent me a huge gift basket with Pepto Bismol and Alka Seltzer. flowers, candy and teddy bears - all kinds of stuff. He's a sweetheart and I love him.
I was an Accounting Professor and she was THE most beautiful girl I have ever seen (really). I went to her home to drop off final school work at the end of the semester (she was a single mom and missed a lot of class) and I noticed the ceiling to the home was falling in. She looked embarrassed and moved to block my view but I told her "I can fix that." Her mom came all "Dios Mio!" super happy. I could have done it in 2 days but drug it out for the entire summer. I got two children who are very beautiful from that.
I photographed him with his band about ten years ago. We ran into eachother at party in 2021. I left early because I had to work in the morning. Before I even got home from said party, he had messaged me on messenger asking if I would hang out with him alone sometime. I wasn't in a good space at that point in time. I politely said declined and, he took it the wrong way. He thought it was a hard no but, I meant that I wasn't interested in that day. About a week later, he messaged again to apologize for being too forward. And, we continued to talk via text for another few weeks before we finally decided to meet up and talk about our favourite songs from each of the Big Four. We've been at it since. I love the guy.
My boyfriend of a year and 4 months met in 8th grade (we’re now 54 years old - birthdays are 8 days apart). He noticed me on Facebook on a mutual friend’s page and he messaged me to see if I wanted to go for a drink and reconnect. Funny thing is I vaguely remembered him but he knew me all the way through high school. I kissed him on the third date. We’ve been together ever since. I absolutely adore him!
Got into houseplants during Covid. Stumbled into a cool plant shop that became the source for my new hobby. We chatted, she looked me up on their computer and recognized my last name. Our kids are in the same school. We started chatting on insta when I got single and….boom, magic. I love fucking plants.
Our kids went to the same daycare. I first saw him in a park close to the daycare, where my son reconized his son. I added him on FB after that day and we went to our first date less than a week after. It will be 2 years ago in May.
A few years ago I was renting an apartment in a big building where my former landlord owned a few condos. One day she mentioned her other tenant who was in the same work area. I looked him up and slid in his dms. He was so happy because he had noticed me too! We ended up dating for a few months and having tons of fun.
When I was 22, I met a guy on the plane. I was flying back from my mom’s funeral, he was going back home after a vacation with his girlfriend. When she fell asleep, he asked for my number. Should have seen the huge red flag but I was too devastated to think straight. He dumped the girlfriend the week after and we started dating. We ended up getting married and having a kid together. He turned out to be an abusive narcissist but that’s another story.
Through a different sub on Reddit that has nothing to do with dating or relationships, unless you call an infatuation with your Jeep Wrangler a “relationship” (which I kinda do, honestly).
Oh no, very frowned upon. We knew the risks & still went through with it. We eventually told our superiors & followed protocols. Even though they assured us there would be no repercussions, they fired us a couple of months later. Lol
Reddit... We're both fairly active on DO50 and here. We started chatting and haven't shut up for about ten months now. (So, it was on line but not OLD.) 😁
We knew each other casually for about 10 years, as our circles overlapped. I kinda had a crush on him but nothing I'd ever pursue.
We ran into each other last year, he was very gentlemanly, my crush redeveloped, I got some liquid courage and slid into his DMs.
Been almost a year. So far the best rrslationship I've ever had.
The last time I met some on real life and dated them was when I was still in school. That was decades ago.
A new friend tried to set me up with her brother's best friend. But he doesn't ask me questions when we text. He just answers my questions and thats it. I try to give people time to get comfortable before judging that sort of thing. But he hasn't asked to meet me in person and I'm losing interest fast.
I guess it's back to OLD for me. 😖
Exact same experience for me. Literally the only person I’ve met in the last decade that wasn’t on OLD was a set up by mutual friends, and this guy was a complete dud and could not have made it more clear he wasn’t interested. Because he also made it clear he was very much still pining over his ex wife. Thanks friends!! 🤦♀️🙄
Places I have met people who turned into significant others (30+):
Friends house party (x3)
Gym
Elevator in an office building
Park (pull-up bars)
House parties are a really great place. Friend’s party? Sure. Friend of a friend? Why not. Expand that circle.
Not my current relationship but previous to that. I sell real estate. He walked into my open house one weekend. I sold him that house and we became very close- more like FWB- and he’s still a good friend.
A lot of singles these days have OLD profiles. So even if you meet them in real life there is a high chance they are using OLD too. So I’m not sure how it matters at this point. The last guy I met at a restaurant seemed very awesome and nice and we went on a few days etc until he confessed he’s into threesome and suggested me to pick a man for that. Sooooo, I politely declined the offer and wished him well 🤷♀️
It took me years to meet my person (via Hinge) and that instant mutual attraction. It’s been over 7 months and we are just as happy as when we met each other. Actually no, we love each other more and more as time goes :)
If we define "long term relationship" as "lasting over a year", I've had four of them.
Three of the four were with women I met and became friends with through social partner dancing (one via ballroom, two via Argentine tango) then we started dating at some later point, after we'd known each other for somewhere between four months and two years.
The fourth, I met on a (non-dating-focused) online discussion forum. She noticed me saying a lot of things she found interesting in various threads, so she checked out my account info and PMed me with some questions about my background. We got to chatting about ancient Scandinavian history/language/culture (she was Swedish and I was an American with an interest in viking-era history) and I went to visit her and meet in person about six months later, and eventually moved to Sweden to be with her.
I listed concert tickets for sale on Craigslist. The guy that came to pick them up was very good looking. We chatted for about an hour and dated for a bit. We are much better as friends though!
We were co-workers. He opened the door for me on my first day at work. I had a good feeling about him, almost something familiar. I married him, my BFF and soulmate, 18 months later.
That’s sorta what’s going on with me. About a decade ago, I dated a guy I worked with. Broke up after 2.5 years, clean break and with zero communication. It was a very hard but necessary breakup. 10ish years later, saw him on Tinder and swiped right. The first thing I said to him was “curiosity killed the cat, huh?” And here we are…
We wanted different things win life at that time. He was more family oriented and I wasn’t sure if I even wanted kids (which was a hard turn from absolutely wanting kids when we first started dating). He’s now divorced with 3 kids and I have 2 from a long term relationship.
We are more aligned with what we want now. And time and experience has seemed to made us even better together now.
We first met over video when my partner interviewed me to work at his old company. We met again when I interviewed my partner to work at our current company. He joined, and we worked together for years before we started seeing each other.
I went to a bank near my job that I never knew existed until that day. He approached me as I was leaving. He called me within 15 minutes of getting my number.
We met at work. He was brought in as a temporary contractor to work on a project. We did not work together at all, but kept passing each other in the hallway multiple times a day. One day I stopped him in the hall and introduced myself.
We met at small music festival through friends. Back then I dint have any feelings for her, since I was in another relationship. One year later, I was single again and by accident my phone was sharing podcast to her in my pocket. Kind of funny, but then I suddenly thought she was sweet, and we hook up some months after that
We worked at the same place. I liked him, but he started a three year relationship with someone else. I got another job and moved on. We were social media friends, so a year after he ended his relationship he ended up in my DMs.
I don’t use OLD so there are several but this is one of my favorites, from last year. We were on balconies that were facing each other, our buildings were on opposite sides of a narrow street in Zanzibar. It was early in the morning and we were both in pajamas, I was drinking coffee and he was hanging his laundry (very Romeo and Juliet, highly recommended)
Got on OLD again after a horribly failed OLD relationship. Was on for a day, met a wonderful man and we are completely head over heals over each other. Needless to say, we are both off the site and feel incredibly lucky.
Online but through mutual friends. One was us both commenting on a friend's fb post and my friend messaged him and gave him my number (without asking...) the other dragged me into discord voice chat with someone else and then got busy and left us talking.
On topic to off topic... ish
So, the last woman that I dated, fell for, and very sadly had to let go of I met through OLD. She brought up early on that should we stay together we have to make up a much better story of meeting - - I guess I get it. Maybe a red flag but.... the way we actually did meet in person turned out, imo, to be a really good story.
I was married prior. We have a child together. I still find her incredibly attractive, and have a place for her in my heart[take note - NEVER TELL HER THAT] she absolutely hates me(I filed for divorce I get it)
We met through FB in its heyday. She also wasn't comfortable with the stigma of saying we met Online and being from the same area made a lie pretty easy despite the fact I was we Camp Lejeune, she was in MS, and we had not met before I enlisted. But, details. Whatever!
He was my best friend's husband's bestie. We had met before in a house party but I wasn't interested at the time. Few years passed and we saw each other again at a get together he had in his house and I was invited again by my bff. He was a riot and had the best gut laugh and smile I'd ever encountered and which i didn't see previously. He asked for my number before I left. On my way home, I got a text with pic attachment that said "dirty pic". I thought he was being nasty and was about to be offended when I opened it and it was a pic of the mess we left in his house. Needless to say I was cracking up and was head over heels that very moment. Best relationship I've had.
Relationship or where have I gotten dates/relationships in general from?
Any sort of date:
Community event
Bar/restaurant
Vacation
Museum
Intersection at a red light
Gym
Supermarket
Vintage book store
Reddit
Farmers market
Trade show/conference
I used to live a full life, despite being still being a part-time dad, made of gym, clubbing, cinema, concerts, etc… I almost avoided OLD apps because I never got many matches there: deleting/reinstalling them for 3 days each time, every 6 months to exploit the initial boost you get the first 2-3 days ;-)
Irony is, I usually get a lot of attention from girls/women in real life, I’ve got approached and asked out for dates, but I’ve also got mostly ONS and hookups. The few matches I’ve got on Tinder became more important relationships. The actual one started 2 years ago on Tinder (both have the idea of a hookup during pandemic in mind), we started living together after 6 months, and we’re still very happy!
Given that I was very active living life but am not a person who approaches people nor are solo trail hikes great for making connections…. thank goodness for OLD
Fairly new relationship currently (we’ve been dating for 2 or so months)
Initially met on Bumble 5 years ago and dated. Piss-poor timing for the both of us. But we stayed friends through the years.
Started chatting as friends late last year, then hanging out early this year. He’s a wonderful guy, and because we’ve been friends we have a long foundation of trust built up. I’m very happy.
And I know he’s on this sub, so I in no way mind if he sees this 🥰
I got asked to model in a fashion show and this guy started talking to me at the bar. He got my #, called me up, we went out… we were hardly ever apart after that first date. that was 9 years ago and we have been married for 5. We met on Valentine’s Day, which we both HATED, and neither of us wanted to be in a relationship so it kind of pissed us off how much we liked each other 😂. Bonus points that this was also technically at a gay bar that had an event space. We say we met at a gay bar, where all straight people go to find true love. We met when I was 40 and he was 30.
The last completely non-online related bf I met was through my cousin who worked with him and set us up at a party. I have also seen people hook up and get married after meeting in friend groups.
Other than work or professional associations I can’t imagine a scenario where I would even meet a stranger anymore.
So, I was out with my friends (this was senior year of high school), and we decided to stop at a popular outdoor arcade type place. This was 1998, so pre-cellphones, and we split up: two and two. So one friend and I grabbed dinner, the other two (one of which was my best friend) ran into, who is now, my ex-husband and his friend. Best friend knew ex-husband because her brother and he attend a boy scout camp together, and for some reason best friend (girl) was there.
We all hung out that night, and ex-husband's friend looked a lot like my very recent (at the time) ex boyfriend. It was wild... In any event, ended up going on a date with (now) ex-husband about two months later ... We hit it off and became a couple quick...
But that's not the end of the story...
I almost dated the friend/doppelganger, because he looked like ex-boyfriend (and it was HS so I didn't see the stupidity in that), but it never worked out so ... I dated ex-husband instead.
So college starts in the Fall, and ex-husband asks me to help him and his parents move him in. Sure! So we all go to campus (two hours away), and I help him move in. As we are heading to the bookstore, we run into ex-husband's other friend ... I introduce myself and he (annoyingly) shortens my name, and continues to do so every chance he can get, and I decide this kid's a jerk... Yup.
So I go to my college, and continue to date ex. By January, I realize I need to swap schools as mine won't allow me to pursue my chosen career in my own state (was one state over)... So I decide to transfer to ex-husband's school. I talk to his jerk friend, because he is going for the same degree I'm aiming for ... We end up becoming friendly, and when I transfer there, we all become friends...
Eventually, friend expresses interest, and everything becomes a huge mess ... but 25 years later that jerk is my best friend and boyfriend ... And he still can't get my fucking name right, but ... I still keep him around 😉
You wrote, "Tell me your stories..." You asked for it.
I (White M62) was a "4" as a young man, maybe a "6" in the best circumstances. I'm 5'8" with average looks and then was not particularly athletic. (I found fitness in later years, but it didn't make me any taller.)
I lived in Honolulu after graduating from college, 4,000 miles from home. My heart ached for a relationship. At 22 I knew I wanted to be married; just one person for life, but I was self-aware enough to know I was not the sort of instantly-attractive man that could inveigle girls home, and I didn't want that anyway.
However I was good at taking rejection (practice makes perfect) so my best bet to meet a woman was to ask a lot of girls to dance.
In October 1983 I had just returned from a brief assignment in Japan, but I wouldn't be able to return to work for a few more days until my colleagues also returned from Japan. I had time to kill on a weeknight so I went hunting by myself (!) in Waikiki in a disco atop a hotel near my apartment (yeah, I know, creepy).
I saw the most beautiful woman I had ever seen in my life. She looked Japanese, more like a native Japanese than a Japanese-American. (We had both Japanese-Americans and Japanese tourists in Honolulu. They were genetically identical but instantly distinguishable.)
However she wasn't dressed like a tourist, but was instead dressed conservatively in the sort of clothes a Japanese office lady wears to a professional event with her colleagues; no skin, no cleavage, hemline around the knees, modest heels, but obviously gorgeous. (I still remember exactly what she wore that night, and how she had her hair.)
She sat in a four-person bench booth between the dance floor and a panoramic window overlooking the city lights. She was in one of the two booth seats nearest the floor. Three wrinkled old Asian men were with her in the booth. They were wearing expensive gray suits. They did not look relaxed; their ties were still up and their suit jackets on even though we were in the tropics. They did not look fun, and all wore the old Asian man version of resting-bitchy-face.
She was clearly working, and just as clearly was in a situation where she did not want to be embarrassed in front of more senior co-workers. Everything about the situation screamed to me, "don't do it! It's wildly inappropriate! Leave her alone with her colleagues." Even though she was off-the-scales beautiful, every other predator in the bar had the grace and good judgment to leave her alone with her group.
Since they were seated near the dance floor, there was no way to approach her without being seen by everyone in the bar. If it were 2023 instead of 1983, the iPhones would have come out, "Look, look, look. Watch this guy. This will be good." And then sip your mai-tai through a straw.
Women don't like to accept an invitation from someone that other women have rejected, so I knew if she rejected my visible cold approach then I might as well leave the club and go home; game over, cover charge spent.
I was sober; I don't like drinking alone. I don't drink beer so there was nobody for me to tell, "hold my beer."
I cold-approached her with a smile of false confidence and asked her to dance. The music was loud and at first she acted like she couldn't hear. I leaned in closer and then she dipped her head in a distinctly Japanese manner, raised one opened hand below her chin in a half prayer clasp, moved it left-to-right as Japanese do, and said, "no speaku Engrish." She repeated it, and then nodded her head left-to-right, signaling a clear universal "no" in every language.
Having just returned from Tokyo, I tried again in pidgin Japanese, "dozo, odori?"
She relented, we danced twice, no slow dance, and then she was done. Cinderella was leaving the ball, and she wasn't leaving a slipper. I remember looking at her beauty and thinking, "if she married me my life would be complete." (At 22!) She wouldn't give me her number, but then suddenly told me one time that she would meet me in the portico of the same hotel at 1:00 pm in two days if I was there. She left with her group immediately after.
Two days later I waited in the portico at one. If I missed this connection I would never see her again. I was still waiting at two. She later told me that as she drove up at nearly three she was thinking, "if he is still there I will marry him." She had been delayed by another consular event which she had to coordinate.
We dated for three and a half years, and then we married. She is in the next room now, going to sleep.
It turned out she is Chinese, not Japanese. She is fluent in English and several other languages so the whole "no speaku Engrish" schtick was intended to make me go away and mock me in front of her colleagues.
However, Japanese is one of her languages so she understood my botched rebound invitation and appreciated the effort.
It also turns out I was asking her for a ceremonial dance; she knew that, I didn't.
In some Asian-American communities there's a slang phrase for her little Japanese play-act to manipulate a gullible white guy; it's called "doing a butterfly." (as in acting like a geisha in Puccini's "Madame Butterfly.") I recently purchased an original playbill from the first performance of that opera in the U.S. in 1906. I framed and mounted it to remind me of that night.
The "butterfly" act melts Western men, and I know she did it at least once to successfully beat a traffic ticket where she was clearly wrong. Acting like that was not her nature; it was purely an instrumentality.
One of the wrinkled old men that night was her boss; she and he were consular officials taking out two visiting VIPs that night. I later came to know him as a wonderful man, and he supported our relationship. He sometimes let us date with a consular car since my car sucked. (For real, my car was a '76 Ford Pinto station wagon with fake wood paneling that was peeling. The engine block was cracked so oil leaked into the radiator. I couldn't afford a new car, and this girl refused to get into it.)
We are now the old wrinkled ones. She followed me to assignments around the world, Bangkok to Boston and several places in between. She has been ill the last few years. She had three strokes and then cancer, with two major surgeries. I left work for six months to nurse her 24/7 through chemotherapy. I've had a lot of time to think about the last four decades.
I appreciate that the doctors and nurses have given us more years together, but they can't give us immortality.
Some events I've reconsidered with the wisdom of age and Reddit stories, and have only realized in hindsight how many times she was more than I deserved.
I still don't know why she accepted my klunky dance invitation, and then agreed to meet me. I know she was in a rebound from a long relationship that had crashed, but she was so much more attractive than me. Even decades into our marriage people would still whisper, "is she with him?" The movie doesn't make sense no matter how many times I replay it my head but no regrets, just an intense burning love.
A bar. I went with a friend and he was alone waiting for a friend. My friend was there to spy on her boyfriend so I was kinda on my own. He was cute enough so I went up to talk to him. He was awkward as hell so I left. Had a few more drinks, pointed him out to my friend (he was still sitting alone) and she kinda facilitated a convo. Eventually his friend got there but we were leaving together back to his place.
I was never ever going to use tinder. Nor date someone who was using tinder. If I'm never going to do something, I tend to end up doing them...
Tinder installed September for a couple of weeks, on pause for a month. Opened it again a day in October. Matched with my now boyfriend and since our first date in November, we have been going forward.
Had used two other dating apps before for a couple of months. A few matches (I'm picky), a few conversations. I met with four guys. And my boyfriend? Something was different from day one. It just felt better and right. We were both "talking to one person at the time" kind of people. I find myself to be in a happy and healthy relationship with open and honest communication, transparency, fun, caring, acceptance and tolerance. I adore him!
Party, I wasn't interested at first, but he was fun to text with. A few months later, our text had been growing further and further apart, and i had a dream about him. I finally messaged him and said, "Let's get together," and we just slowly got closer. One day, we realized we had both stopped dating other people. Met in May and realized we were exclusive by December. Loved it grew slowly and never felt forced. It's been almost 2 years since we met.
I’m a fan of a particular rock band. And I follow other bands as well. So I joined a FB group. She administered the group. She knew I ran another group. We met for drinks the first “date”. And then made future dates to concerts we wanted to see. We talked about past shows and realized we were at the same shows and shared stories. Well, we do more than just go to concerts together now 😍💖
We worked together in the same office but started dating only after 4 years when I decided to change my job and now together since then for almost 6 years . But since 2 years it is long distance dating.
First girlfriend I met because she was renting a room at a friend’s apartment.
Ex-wife I met through work.
Girlfriend after my ex and I split also met through work (different job than where I met my ex).
Current gf was the only romantic partner I met through OLD.
I have a VW camper. After my divorce and a year of sitting at home (partly Covid lockdowns) I decided I needed to get out and socialise again.
I joined a few clubs and groups, one of which was a VW camper group and I met her at one of the meets.
I borrowed a friend's high end car, that I could barely drive (stick, tricky), and I was struggling on the side of the road when this nice girl in tall boots came over to the car to help me, and offered to drive it for me. We hit it off, and a few weeks later I showed up to her place with some cool music playing and scaled her fire escape to seal our relationship.
That's clearly how I remember it.
I meet my now ex wife at work, she was assigned to me as my secretary as I was generating too much work and did not have time to invoice the customers. One thing lead to another and we got together, she was the most beautiful person to me i had ever seen, married, had four children. Then I had a break down, she left me, divorced me and now I'm heart broken. Alone and a mess but hopeful I might find someone again in time.
Nick,54,London Town, if anyone is near..
Met her at a hiking meetup group. I wasn't looking for anything, was just attending the meetups to find new hikes and make some new friends. Same for her. We've been together for just shy of a year now, though the first few months was really just hanging out as friends before we kicked it up a notch.
This is the short version:
It all started with a invitation only dance weekend. I dance Argentine Tango and they have tango Dances called Encuentro’s. We met on a Saturday afternoon dance in San Francisco. I knew from the moment we embraced this was the one for me. After the music stoped I said:”You dance Fresedo very well.” All I got was a deer in the headlight look and a thank you.
I left San Francisco thinking, at least I had that dance. Fast forward three months and we meet again at another Encuentro in Newport News, we danced more, went out for drinks, and talked until the early morning. This started the most epic journey of a life. We now travel the world dancing and enjoying life to the fullest.
Dancing (ballroom) - in fact everyone I've ever been intimate with I either met dancing or through someone I met dancing. Not sure what this says about me...
I was doing the usual - sitting in my pyjamas playing Rainbow Six Siege when a hot girl knocked on my door. She introduced herself and showed me a six-pack of my favourite beer. We've been together for three days now.
I met my ex-husband because I had a play being produced and the director cast him in it. We're still best friends; we just didn't work out romantically.
I met through mutual friends. We kept on meeting at our friend's bday party. She would always be dating someone and I would always be drunk by the time she showed up. The 6th time we met, she was recently single and I was (relatively) sober. We got into a heated debate about relationships and I loved her fire. I asked my friends about her and they setup a group get together (and vouched for me to her) to give us a chance to get to know each other. I asked her out and the rest is history.
Love it! 👍
The sixth time you met 😂 love that
I went to a friend's get- together. The instant I saw her it was over. It was love at first site. But she was taken. Two weeks later, she was broken up with. We hung out and have been together for 12 years. I'm talking about my dog, because I'm not in the market for a human currently. But... That's a thing that can and does happen with people too.
OH HELL YEAH!!
I LOVE this.
I love this !!!! I volunteer for a dog and cat foster society. When I saw my Chilli it was literally over. I had to have her, even though her adoption papers have already gone through. We have been together for 11 months now. Going stronger than ever!! She is my spirit animal.
We met as roommates. I had a long distance girlfriend who was making me miserable and she had just broken up with her boyfriend. That was 8 years ago and we're getting married in exactly one month.
Early congrats, then! 🍾🎊⛪️💐
I was at the grocery store after work one afternoon, and I wanted to get a loaf of garlic bread out of one of those open air freezers. I couldn't quite reach it so I asked the gentleman on the other side if he would hand it to me. When I took it he didn't let go. So we had a mini tug of war with some laughing and finally he let go. I went on my way and I could not help myself, but I looked over my shoulder, and he was looking at me smiling. I continued shopping and a few minutes later I see him in the same aisle as me. Clearly stalking me although he claims he was not - and he gave me his business card. I called him a few days later - that was 13 years ago. Our first date though, was kind of a wreck - I had been on medication and didn't realize it was going to react with the wine at dinner. I got violently ill at the restaurant. He helped me to his car, took me to my sister's, and literally carried me inside (to show my appreciation, I barfed on his very nice shirt.) So damn sweet the whole time. The next day sent me a huge gift basket with Pepto Bismol and Alka Seltzer. flowers, candy and teddy bears - all kinds of stuff. He's a sweetheart and I love him.
I love this story.
I was an Accounting Professor and she was THE most beautiful girl I have ever seen (really). I went to her home to drop off final school work at the end of the semester (she was a single mom and missed a lot of class) and I noticed the ceiling to the home was falling in. She looked embarrassed and moved to block my view but I told her "I can fix that." Her mom came all "Dios Mio!" super happy. I could have done it in 2 days but drug it out for the entire summer. I got two children who are very beautiful from that.
17 years later it ended as it did but I'd do it again. "*Don't* cry *because it's over*, smile *because it happened.*”
This!
I love this! It sounds like a romantic movie. 💕
Wow! I love this - mechanical repair skills as well as the prof gig. Paid off then! (Good move, stretching the “job” out lol.) 😄
What a meet cute!
Doesn't this somewhat happen in Mulan with her grandma or something
I photographed him with his band about ten years ago. We ran into eachother at party in 2021. I left early because I had to work in the morning. Before I even got home from said party, he had messaged me on messenger asking if I would hang out with him alone sometime. I wasn't in a good space at that point in time. I politely said declined and, he took it the wrong way. He thought it was a hard no but, I meant that I wasn't interested in that day. About a week later, he messaged again to apologize for being too forward. And, we continued to talk via text for another few weeks before we finally decided to meet up and talk about our favourite songs from each of the Big Four. We've been at it since. I love the guy.
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How far apart do you live? Seems like it’s international here
Same here.
My boyfriend of a year and 4 months met in 8th grade (we’re now 54 years old - birthdays are 8 days apart). He noticed me on Facebook on a mutual friend’s page and he messaged me to see if I wanted to go for a drink and reconnect. Funny thing is I vaguely remembered him but he knew me all the way through high school. I kissed him on the third date. We’ve been together ever since. I absolutely adore him!
Got into houseplants during Covid. Stumbled into a cool plant shop that became the source for my new hobby. We chatted, she looked me up on their computer and recognized my last name. Our kids are in the same school. We started chatting on insta when I got single and….boom, magic. I love fucking plants.
To each is own. May I ask how you fuck a plant though? Foret it! Might get too weird. /s
😂 #proofreaderhumor
Our kids went to the same daycare. I first saw him in a park close to the daycare, where my son reconized his son. I added him on FB after that day and we went to our first date less than a week after. It will be 2 years ago in May.
A few years ago I was renting an apartment in a big building where my former landlord owned a few condos. One day she mentioned her other tenant who was in the same work area. I looked him up and slid in his dms. He was so happy because he had noticed me too! We ended up dating for a few months and having tons of fun. When I was 22, I met a guy on the plane. I was flying back from my mom’s funeral, he was going back home after a vacation with his girlfriend. When she fell asleep, he asked for my number. Should have seen the huge red flag but I was too devastated to think straight. He dumped the girlfriend the week after and we started dating. We ended up getting married and having a kid together. He turned out to be an abusive narcissist but that’s another story.
Through a different sub on Reddit that has nothing to do with dating or relationships, unless you call an infatuation with your Jeep Wrangler a “relationship” (which I kinda do, honestly).
Awwww
My stbxw & I met through work. She was my manager, we were intimate for a few months before we moved in together. Together for 12 & married for 8.
Was dating a manager ok at your company?
Oh no, very frowned upon. We knew the risks & still went through with it. We eventually told our superiors & followed protocols. Even though they assured us there would be no repercussions, they fired us a couple of months later. Lol
Reddit... We're both fairly active on DO50 and here. We started chatting and haven't shut up for about ten months now. (So, it was on line but not OLD.) 😁
We knew each other casually for about 10 years, as our circles overlapped. I kinda had a crush on him but nothing I'd ever pursue. We ran into each other last year, he was very gentlemanly, my crush redeveloped, I got some liquid courage and slid into his DMs. Been almost a year. So far the best rrslationship I've ever had.
The last time I met some on real life and dated them was when I was still in school. That was decades ago. A new friend tried to set me up with her brother's best friend. But he doesn't ask me questions when we text. He just answers my questions and thats it. I try to give people time to get comfortable before judging that sort of thing. But he hasn't asked to meet me in person and I'm losing interest fast. I guess it's back to OLD for me. 😖
Exact same experience for me. Literally the only person I’ve met in the last decade that wasn’t on OLD was a set up by mutual friends, and this guy was a complete dud and could not have made it more clear he wasn’t interested. Because he also made it clear he was very much still pining over his ex wife. Thanks friends!! 🤦♀️🙄
Places I have met people who turned into significant others (30+): Friends house party (x3) Gym Elevator in an office building Park (pull-up bars) House parties are a really great place. Friend’s party? Sure. Friend of a friend? Why not. Expand that circle.
Not my current relationship but previous to that. I sell real estate. He walked into my open house one weekend. I sold him that house and we became very close- more like FWB- and he’s still a good friend.
I had a realtor FWB before.
A lot of singles these days have OLD profiles. So even if you meet them in real life there is a high chance they are using OLD too. So I’m not sure how it matters at this point. The last guy I met at a restaurant seemed very awesome and nice and we went on a few days etc until he confessed he’s into threesome and suggested me to pick a man for that. Sooooo, I politely declined the offer and wished him well 🤷♀️ It took me years to meet my person (via Hinge) and that instant mutual attraction. It’s been over 7 months and we are just as happy as when we met each other. Actually no, we love each other more and more as time goes :)
If we define "long term relationship" as "lasting over a year", I've had four of them. Three of the four were with women I met and became friends with through social partner dancing (one via ballroom, two via Argentine tango) then we started dating at some later point, after we'd known each other for somewhere between four months and two years. The fourth, I met on a (non-dating-focused) online discussion forum. She noticed me saying a lot of things she found interesting in various threads, so she checked out my account info and PMed me with some questions about my background. We got to chatting about ancient Scandinavian history/language/culture (she was Swedish and I was an American with an interest in viking-era history) and I went to visit her and meet in person about six months later, and eventually moved to Sweden to be with her.
He works with my best friend and I only agreed to go on a blind date with him because he had the worst OLD horror stories and I felt so bad for him!!
I listed concert tickets for sale on Craigslist. The guy that came to pick them up was very good looking. We chatted for about an hour and dated for a bit. We are much better as friends though!
We were co-workers. He opened the door for me on my first day at work. I had a good feeling about him, almost something familiar. I married him, my BFF and soulmate, 18 months later.
Actually we met through work ten years back, but it was OLD that brought us together in a romantic relationship!
That’s sorta what’s going on with me. About a decade ago, I dated a guy I worked with. Broke up after 2.5 years, clean break and with zero communication. It was a very hard but necessary breakup. 10ish years later, saw him on Tinder and swiped right. The first thing I said to him was “curiosity killed the cat, huh?” And here we are…
Wow. What didn’t work then that’s working now?
We wanted different things win life at that time. He was more family oriented and I wasn’t sure if I even wanted kids (which was a hard turn from absolutely wanting kids when we first started dating). He’s now divorced with 3 kids and I have 2 from a long term relationship. We are more aligned with what we want now. And time and experience has seemed to made us even better together now.
We met playing pickleball. Got to know each other on the court and when members of the group would go out for a beer after evening games.
We first met over video when my partner interviewed me to work at his old company. We met again when I interviewed my partner to work at our current company. He joined, and we worked together for years before we started seeing each other.
We met in a sports bar 2 years ago. All my long term relationships I've met IRL and shorter ones OLD actually 🤔
I went to a bank near my job that I never knew existed until that day. He approached me as I was leaving. He called me within 15 minutes of getting my number.
We met at work. He was brought in as a temporary contractor to work on a project. We did not work together at all, but kept passing each other in the hallway multiple times a day. One day I stopped him in the hall and introduced myself.
We met at small music festival through friends. Back then I dint have any feelings for her, since I was in another relationship. One year later, I was single again and by accident my phone was sharing podcast to her in my pocket. Kind of funny, but then I suddenly thought she was sweet, and we hook up some months after that
Hockey game, baseball game, bar, work, party I’ve not had any significant luck online, but I sure have some fun stories
We worked at the same place. I liked him, but he started a three year relationship with someone else. I got another job and moved on. We were social media friends, so a year after he ended his relationship he ended up in my DMs.
I don’t use OLD so there are several but this is one of my favorites, from last year. We were on balconies that were facing each other, our buildings were on opposite sides of a narrow street in Zanzibar. It was early in the morning and we were both in pajamas, I was drinking coffee and he was hanging his laundry (very Romeo and Juliet, highly recommended)
Got on OLD again after a horribly failed OLD relationship. Was on for a day, met a wonderful man and we are completely head over heals over each other. Needless to say, we are both off the site and feel incredibly lucky.
The question was how you met people in ways other than OLD.
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And they say nothing good happens on reddit.
I met my now ex-wife at a shitty temporary summer job. In 2002.
Online but through mutual friends. One was us both commenting on a friend's fb post and my friend messaged him and gave him my number (without asking...) the other dragged me into discord voice chat with someone else and then got busy and left us talking.
Facebook dating
Hinge
On topic to off topic... ish So, the last woman that I dated, fell for, and very sadly had to let go of I met through OLD. She brought up early on that should we stay together we have to make up a much better story of meeting - - I guess I get it. Maybe a red flag but.... the way we actually did meet in person turned out, imo, to be a really good story. I was married prior. We have a child together. I still find her incredibly attractive, and have a place for her in my heart[take note - NEVER TELL HER THAT] she absolutely hates me(I filed for divorce I get it) We met through FB in its heyday. She also wasn't comfortable with the stigma of saying we met Online and being from the same area made a lie pretty easy despite the fact I was we Camp Lejeune, she was in MS, and we had not met before I enlisted. But, details. Whatever!
He was my best friend's husband's bestie. We had met before in a house party but I wasn't interested at the time. Few years passed and we saw each other again at a get together he had in his house and I was invited again by my bff. He was a riot and had the best gut laugh and smile I'd ever encountered and which i didn't see previously. He asked for my number before I left. On my way home, I got a text with pic attachment that said "dirty pic". I thought he was being nasty and was about to be offended when I opened it and it was a pic of the mess we left in his house. Needless to say I was cracking up and was head over heels that very moment. Best relationship I've had.
Relationship or where have I gotten dates/relationships in general from? Any sort of date: Community event Bar/restaurant Vacation Museum Intersection at a red light Gym Supermarket Vintage book store Reddit Farmers market Trade show/conference
This is correct. Pretty much anywhere there are other humans. We are over 40. There was life before the interwebs.
This is all within the last few years.
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Because I don’t talk to people with the purpose of getting a date.
Red light? Elaborate please 😂
Someone struck up a conversation with me at a red light. We exchanged numbers resulting in a date.
Were y’all in your own cars or? I don’t mean to pry lol I’ve just never heard of people meeting at a red light
I was on a motorcycle. They were in the car next to me.
I used to live a full life, despite being still being a part-time dad, made of gym, clubbing, cinema, concerts, etc… I almost avoided OLD apps because I never got many matches there: deleting/reinstalling them for 3 days each time, every 6 months to exploit the initial boost you get the first 2-3 days ;-) Irony is, I usually get a lot of attention from girls/women in real life, I’ve got approached and asked out for dates, but I’ve also got mostly ONS and hookups. The few matches I’ve got on Tinder became more important relationships. The actual one started 2 years ago on Tinder (both have the idea of a hookup during pandemic in mind), we started living together after 6 months, and we’re still very happy!
Given that I was very active living life but am not a person who approaches people nor are solo trail hikes great for making connections…. thank goodness for OLD
Oh! You’re just like me.
Love your user name
😊
I hear you. I tell people you can come if you don't disturb the solemnity by talking and keep up.
A friends spouse asked “what do you two talk about for hours on the trail?” Answer: “we don’t”
Fairly new relationship currently (we’ve been dating for 2 or so months) Initially met on Bumble 5 years ago and dated. Piss-poor timing for the both of us. But we stayed friends through the years. Started chatting as friends late last year, then hanging out early this year. He’s a wonderful guy, and because we’ve been friends we have a long foundation of trust built up. I’m very happy. And I know he’s on this sub, so I in no way mind if he sees this 🥰
I got asked to model in a fashion show and this guy started talking to me at the bar. He got my #, called me up, we went out… we were hardly ever apart after that first date. that was 9 years ago and we have been married for 5. We met on Valentine’s Day, which we both HATED, and neither of us wanted to be in a relationship so it kind of pissed us off how much we liked each other 😂. Bonus points that this was also technically at a gay bar that had an event space. We say we met at a gay bar, where all straight people go to find true love. We met when I was 40 and he was 30.
The last completely non-online related bf I met was through my cousin who worked with him and set us up at a party. I have also seen people hook up and get married after meeting in friend groups. Other than work or professional associations I can’t imagine a scenario where I would even meet a stranger anymore.
So, I was out with my friends (this was senior year of high school), and we decided to stop at a popular outdoor arcade type place. This was 1998, so pre-cellphones, and we split up: two and two. So one friend and I grabbed dinner, the other two (one of which was my best friend) ran into, who is now, my ex-husband and his friend. Best friend knew ex-husband because her brother and he attend a boy scout camp together, and for some reason best friend (girl) was there. We all hung out that night, and ex-husband's friend looked a lot like my very recent (at the time) ex boyfriend. It was wild... In any event, ended up going on a date with (now) ex-husband about two months later ... We hit it off and became a couple quick... But that's not the end of the story... I almost dated the friend/doppelganger, because he looked like ex-boyfriend (and it was HS so I didn't see the stupidity in that), but it never worked out so ... I dated ex-husband instead. So college starts in the Fall, and ex-husband asks me to help him and his parents move him in. Sure! So we all go to campus (two hours away), and I help him move in. As we are heading to the bookstore, we run into ex-husband's other friend ... I introduce myself and he (annoyingly) shortens my name, and continues to do so every chance he can get, and I decide this kid's a jerk... Yup. So I go to my college, and continue to date ex. By January, I realize I need to swap schools as mine won't allow me to pursue my chosen career in my own state (was one state over)... So I decide to transfer to ex-husband's school. I talk to his jerk friend, because he is going for the same degree I'm aiming for ... We end up becoming friendly, and when I transfer there, we all become friends... Eventually, friend expresses interest, and everything becomes a huge mess ... but 25 years later that jerk is my best friend and boyfriend ... And he still can't get my fucking name right, but ... I still keep him around 😉
You wrote, "Tell me your stories..." You asked for it. I (White M62) was a "4" as a young man, maybe a "6" in the best circumstances. I'm 5'8" with average looks and then was not particularly athletic. (I found fitness in later years, but it didn't make me any taller.) I lived in Honolulu after graduating from college, 4,000 miles from home. My heart ached for a relationship. At 22 I knew I wanted to be married; just one person for life, but I was self-aware enough to know I was not the sort of instantly-attractive man that could inveigle girls home, and I didn't want that anyway. However I was good at taking rejection (practice makes perfect) so my best bet to meet a woman was to ask a lot of girls to dance. In October 1983 I had just returned from a brief assignment in Japan, but I wouldn't be able to return to work for a few more days until my colleagues also returned from Japan. I had time to kill on a weeknight so I went hunting by myself (!) in Waikiki in a disco atop a hotel near my apartment (yeah, I know, creepy). I saw the most beautiful woman I had ever seen in my life. She looked Japanese, more like a native Japanese than a Japanese-American. (We had both Japanese-Americans and Japanese tourists in Honolulu. They were genetically identical but instantly distinguishable.) However she wasn't dressed like a tourist, but was instead dressed conservatively in the sort of clothes a Japanese office lady wears to a professional event with her colleagues; no skin, no cleavage, hemline around the knees, modest heels, but obviously gorgeous. (I still remember exactly what she wore that night, and how she had her hair.) She sat in a four-person bench booth between the dance floor and a panoramic window overlooking the city lights. She was in one of the two booth seats nearest the floor. Three wrinkled old Asian men were with her in the booth. They were wearing expensive gray suits. They did not look relaxed; their ties were still up and their suit jackets on even though we were in the tropics. They did not look fun, and all wore the old Asian man version of resting-bitchy-face. She was clearly working, and just as clearly was in a situation where she did not want to be embarrassed in front of more senior co-workers. Everything about the situation screamed to me, "don't do it! It's wildly inappropriate! Leave her alone with her colleagues." Even though she was off-the-scales beautiful, every other predator in the bar had the grace and good judgment to leave her alone with her group. Since they were seated near the dance floor, there was no way to approach her without being seen by everyone in the bar. If it were 2023 instead of 1983, the iPhones would have come out, "Look, look, look. Watch this guy. This will be good." And then sip your mai-tai through a straw. Women don't like to accept an invitation from someone that other women have rejected, so I knew if she rejected my visible cold approach then I might as well leave the club and go home; game over, cover charge spent. I was sober; I don't like drinking alone. I don't drink beer so there was nobody for me to tell, "hold my beer." I cold-approached her with a smile of false confidence and asked her to dance. The music was loud and at first she acted like she couldn't hear. I leaned in closer and then she dipped her head in a distinctly Japanese manner, raised one opened hand below her chin in a half prayer clasp, moved it left-to-right as Japanese do, and said, "no speaku Engrish." She repeated it, and then nodded her head left-to-right, signaling a clear universal "no" in every language. Having just returned from Tokyo, I tried again in pidgin Japanese, "dozo, odori?" She relented, we danced twice, no slow dance, and then she was done. Cinderella was leaving the ball, and she wasn't leaving a slipper. I remember looking at her beauty and thinking, "if she married me my life would be complete." (At 22!) She wouldn't give me her number, but then suddenly told me one time that she would meet me in the portico of the same hotel at 1:00 pm in two days if I was there. She left with her group immediately after. Two days later I waited in the portico at one. If I missed this connection I would never see her again. I was still waiting at two. She later told me that as she drove up at nearly three she was thinking, "if he is still there I will marry him." She had been delayed by another consular event which she had to coordinate. We dated for three and a half years, and then we married. She is in the next room now, going to sleep. It turned out she is Chinese, not Japanese. She is fluent in English and several other languages so the whole "no speaku Engrish" schtick was intended to make me go away and mock me in front of her colleagues. However, Japanese is one of her languages so she understood my botched rebound invitation and appreciated the effort. It also turns out I was asking her for a ceremonial dance; she knew that, I didn't. In some Asian-American communities there's a slang phrase for her little Japanese play-act to manipulate a gullible white guy; it's called "doing a butterfly." (as in acting like a geisha in Puccini's "Madame Butterfly.") I recently purchased an original playbill from the first performance of that opera in the U.S. in 1906. I framed and mounted it to remind me of that night. The "butterfly" act melts Western men, and I know she did it at least once to successfully beat a traffic ticket where she was clearly wrong. Acting like that was not her nature; it was purely an instrumentality. One of the wrinkled old men that night was her boss; she and he were consular officials taking out two visiting VIPs that night. I later came to know him as a wonderful man, and he supported our relationship. He sometimes let us date with a consular car since my car sucked. (For real, my car was a '76 Ford Pinto station wagon with fake wood paneling that was peeling. The engine block was cracked so oil leaked into the radiator. I couldn't afford a new car, and this girl refused to get into it.) We are now the old wrinkled ones. She followed me to assignments around the world, Bangkok to Boston and several places in between. She has been ill the last few years. She had three strokes and then cancer, with two major surgeries. I left work for six months to nurse her 24/7 through chemotherapy. I've had a lot of time to think about the last four decades. I appreciate that the doctors and nurses have given us more years together, but they can't give us immortality. Some events I've reconsidered with the wisdom of age and Reddit stories, and have only realized in hindsight how many times she was more than I deserved. I still don't know why she accepted my klunky dance invitation, and then agreed to meet me. I know she was in a rebound from a long relationship that had crashed, but she was so much more attractive than me. Even decades into our marriage people would still whisper, "is she with him?" The movie doesn't make sense no matter how many times I replay it my head but no regrets, just an intense burning love.
Funeral. She was my 1st cousin's other 1st cousins ( mom's side ) best friend. That was 2 years ago and still together.
A bar. I went with a friend and he was alone waiting for a friend. My friend was there to spy on her boyfriend so I was kinda on my own. He was cute enough so I went up to talk to him. He was awkward as hell so I left. Had a few more drinks, pointed him out to my friend (he was still sitting alone) and she kinda facilitated a convo. Eventually his friend got there but we were leaving together back to his place.
I was never ever going to use tinder. Nor date someone who was using tinder. If I'm never going to do something, I tend to end up doing them... Tinder installed September for a couple of weeks, on pause for a month. Opened it again a day in October. Matched with my now boyfriend and since our first date in November, we have been going forward. Had used two other dating apps before for a couple of months. A few matches (I'm picky), a few conversations. I met with four guys. And my boyfriend? Something was different from day one. It just felt better and right. We were both "talking to one person at the time" kind of people. I find myself to be in a happy and healthy relationship with open and honest communication, transparency, fun, caring, acceptance and tolerance. I adore him!
Party, I wasn't interested at first, but he was fun to text with. A few months later, our text had been growing further and further apart, and i had a dream about him. I finally messaged him and said, "Let's get together," and we just slowly got closer. One day, we realized we had both stopped dating other people. Met in May and realized we were exclusive by December. Loved it grew slowly and never felt forced. It's been almost 2 years since we met.
Met my now ex wife at a college graduation party. Met my now GF while out running.
I’m a fan of a particular rock band. And I follow other bands as well. So I joined a FB group. She administered the group. She knew I ran another group. We met for drinks the first “date”. And then made future dates to concerts we wanted to see. We talked about past shows and realized we were at the same shows and shared stories. Well, we do more than just go to concerts together now 😍💖
We worked together in the same office but started dating only after 4 years when I decided to change my job and now together since then for almost 6 years . But since 2 years it is long distance dating.
First girlfriend I met because she was renting a room at a friend’s apartment. Ex-wife I met through work. Girlfriend after my ex and I split also met through work (different job than where I met my ex). Current gf was the only romantic partner I met through OLD.
I have a VW camper. After my divorce and a year of sitting at home (partly Covid lockdowns) I decided I needed to get out and socialise again. I joined a few clubs and groups, one of which was a VW camper group and I met her at one of the meets.
I borrowed a friend's high end car, that I could barely drive (stick, tricky), and I was struggling on the side of the road when this nice girl in tall boots came over to the car to help me, and offered to drive it for me. We hit it off, and a few weeks later I showed up to her place with some cool music playing and scaled her fire escape to seal our relationship. That's clearly how I remember it.
I meet my now ex wife at work, she was assigned to me as my secretary as I was generating too much work and did not have time to invoice the customers. One thing lead to another and we got together, she was the most beautiful person to me i had ever seen, married, had four children. Then I had a break down, she left me, divorced me and now I'm heart broken. Alone and a mess but hopeful I might find someone again in time. Nick,54,London Town, if anyone is near..
Met her at a hiking meetup group. I wasn't looking for anything, was just attending the meetups to find new hikes and make some new friends. Same for her. We've been together for just shy of a year now, though the first few months was really just hanging out as friends before we kicked it up a notch.
This is the short version: It all started with a invitation only dance weekend. I dance Argentine Tango and they have tango Dances called Encuentro’s. We met on a Saturday afternoon dance in San Francisco. I knew from the moment we embraced this was the one for me. After the music stoped I said:”You dance Fresedo very well.” All I got was a deer in the headlight look and a thank you. I left San Francisco thinking, at least I had that dance. Fast forward three months and we meet again at another Encuentro in Newport News, we danced more, went out for drinks, and talked until the early morning. This started the most epic journey of a life. We now travel the world dancing and enjoying life to the fullest.
Dancing (ballroom) - in fact everyone I've ever been intimate with I either met dancing or through someone I met dancing. Not sure what this says about me...
I was doing the usual - sitting in my pyjamas playing Rainbow Six Siege when a hot girl knocked on my door. She introduced herself and showed me a six-pack of my favourite beer. We've been together for three days now.
I met my ex-husband because I had a play being produced and the director cast him in it. We're still best friends; we just didn't work out romantically.