Don't Eat Alone I was attending college in Utah when I decided to spend a semester abroad in Jerusalem. I was very excited, but when I arrived there I realized that I knew only one person in the entire country. Wanting to expand my circle of friends, I made a bold move and sat down to eat dinner with a complete stranger. And it seems that I made a good choice that night: two months later, that "complete stranger" told me that he loved me as we watched the sun set over the River Nile. (We were traveling in Africa.) I am now amazingly happy dating Mr. Wonderful, who I met by chance in Jerusalem. Who knew I would find everything I've ever wanted halfway across the world? -- Heather; UT
Not Just Another Birthday I don't remember the day that we met, but our mothers do. We were born on the same day in the same hospital, exactly ten hours apart: me at 12:48 am and him 10:48 am. Throughout our lives we lived five minutes away from each other, went to the same school and even played softball together. But I always thought of him as the weird kid down the street and I never wanted anything to do with him. Nevertheless, on our mutual 16th birthday we happened to spend the day together hiking in the mountains. He had been begging me to go with him for years and I finally obliged, hoping that it wouldn't be that bad. Well, something happened and we fell in love that day! Exactly two years later -- on our shared birthday -- we were married. And three years later, we had a baby on that same day again and in the very same hospital where we first met. That one day is nearly everything to us! -- Amanda, GA
Henry Needs a Hug Soon after I had gotten out of a bad marriage, a girlfriend of mine asked me to go with her to pick up her paycheck. I didn't want to go, since she worked at a bar. I had given up on men and didn't even want to me near them. After a lot of pleading, she convinced me to go and of course men tried to pick me up as soon as I was in the door. I wouldn't talk to any of them until out of the blue one of them came up to me and said, "Hello, I'm Henry and I need a hug." I don't know what came over me, but I gave him his hug and the rest is history! One year later, we are engaged and I am with the most wonderful man of my dreams.
-- Kelley; OH Parellel Universes In the fall of 1999, I was attending college in Sacramento, California. I was finishing some assignments on a school computer in a lab on campus. An ad for a matchmaking site flashed at the top of my screen and I went to the site and answered over six pages of questions about myself. I did this simply to pass the time; I truly wasn't looking for a relationship because I was still bereaving on the passing of my mother just a few months earlier. Meanwhile, on that same day, a woman working for a computer company saw this same ad during her lunch break. She was bored, so she also completed the six-page profile to entertain herself for a bit. The very next day, the matchmaking site informed her that they had made a match for her. She glanced at the profile and assumed that the computer had screwed up and sent her own profile right back to her, since the answer to every question was the same as she had given. It even confirmed her eye color (green), age (40) and father's first name (Arthur). But then she noticed that the height (6 feet) and the weight (195 lbs.) were definitely not hers. That was her one and only clue this was in fact the profile of another person -- me! She contacted me through email and we began a regular correspondence. The more we talked, the more we realized that up until then, we had been living exactly parallel lives. Even our thoughts, dreams and passions were identical. We arranged to meet at a neutral place and it was love at first site. Strangely enough, we even looked alike! After meeting her father, I understood why she and I looked so much alike; I am the EXACT spitting image of her father, only 20 years younger. Her father and I are both veterans of the Navy as well. The third major coincedence between her father and I is unfortunate, but a coincedence just the same. In the time that she and I have been together, her father and I have had heart attacks on the very same day -- twice. Luckily, all three of us have survived those ordeals and are now in good health. Better yet, she and I are now engaged and we plan to marry in the next month or so. I have always been intrigued by the idea that for every person on Earth, there is someone exactly like them living in a parallel universe. Somehow, though, my double and I actually had the opportunity to meet. I am a very lucky man. Sisters and Brothers I have never been good at the dating thing and it seems that
guys have never been good at dating me, either. That is, until my older sister started dating a guy in college. For years and years, my sister and her boyfriend tried to set me up with his younger brother, the only problem being that he lived 2,000 miles away from me. But for some reason, I knew he was my soul mate from the moment I heard about him and as fate would have it, I went to visit my sister only to find out that the little brother was arriving on a plane that very day. We became a couple that weekend and we've stayed together for several years, even though we've been able to see each other in person just twice. The joke between my sister and I is that that we will end up on Jerry Springer because we are dating brothers! All jokes aside, he is the most wonderful man I have ever met, and I will marry him one day -- hopefully we'll beat my sister and his brother to the altar! -- Andrea; Boston Under Your Nose We met in February of 2000 at a friend's house. Upon first meeting him, I knew that we were destined to be friends. From that day on we spent everyday together for several months. We really enjoyed each other's company, but our relationship was strictly platonic. We even played matchmaker for each other a few times. Then, in April, he threw me the first birthday party I'd ever had in my 24 years. Realizing what an incredible person I had on my hands, I began reevaluating our relationship -- unbeknownst to him. What I didn't know then was that he was doing the same thing. On April 25, after coming home from class, I went to visit him. There I was met with a red rose and a ring. He got down on one knee and proposed! I immediately accepted and then, for the first time, we kissed! We were married six days ago, on October 14th. During our engagement, I spent five of the most incredible months of my life with him and am expecting a lifetime of the same. -- Melanie; KS Good with Kids My uncle took my two sons and I on a trip to an amusement park. He had a friend named Eddie along and Eddie kept asking my boys to get on different rides with him. Of course, I wasn't going to let him take them any where without me, so I followed them around the park. When we returned back home, I needed some help bringing everything into the house, so Eddie said that he would help me. This was really shocking because he hadn't said two words to me the entire time that we were in the park. After he made sure that I was home safely, he finally asked for my phone number. It took him almost two weeks to call me, but it was well worth the wait. We have been married for five years now. I still ask him why
didn't he say anything to me on the trip and all he can tell me is that he didn't know what to say to me, but he knew if he kept the boys with him I would follow! -- Domeen; Philadelphia Lost Glove I moved from North Carolina to California in 1969 to work as a photographer. I was sharing an apartment with another photographer and one day, while we were in the elevator of our building, a handsome man got on. He said hello to us, but being shy and 24, I didn't say a word. My roommate, who was like a mother to me, said, "Watch, he'll be at our door in five minutes." And sure enough, he came knocking and asked if either of us had lost a glove. Neither of us wore gloves, but we invited him in for a cup of coffee anyway. The next morning, a dozen red roses and one yellow rose arrived at our apartment. He and I started seeing each other and on our third date, he informed me that I was no longer his girlfriend. He said that I was now his fiancee and then asked me to marry him. I said yes! We will be married 30 years come January! -- Brenda; CA