Gail, I love your story of international romance. Who says accounting isn't romantic? Love is alive and well in the world of numbers.

I was wondering when we'd get a match.com couple! Laurinda, what struck you about the profile? Would love to know.

I wrote an ad that in general terms described who I was, what my passions were, and who I was looking for. Mr. L. was recently divorced and getting back into dating. He saw my ad, and paid the Match.com fee just so he could respond (back in those days women could post for free). When I read his response about what he was working on and hobbies he enjoyed I just knew that if he was not exaggerating too much he was the guy for me ;-). It turns out we already had a couple friends in common so I could check out his bio -- and we've been together 15 years now. He did complain that he only got one date out of his Match.com membership *grin*.

I'm shy about posting photos or revealing too much of myself on line (even here), so it would be tougher for me these days since photos seem to be required. At that time Match.com was great for separating out the chaff without giving too much personal info away. But it is surprising how rare decent writing skills are (let alone the dross who only type Me Want Girl Now).

Wonderful story, Laurinda. I have a feeling he didn't ask Match.com for his money back. You sound like a very happy pair.

These are so much fun! My story is too complex for public airing but I am certainly enjoying all of yours!

How intriguing, Alaskagirl! We'll have to get you liquored up on Purple Rain one of these days so you can tell all!!!

After work at my first "real" job one day, I was walking from my art deco era flat in Cairo along the Nile to my friend Janine's villa facing the river. Unbeknownst to me, DH and his friend Ahmed were walking behind me and my husband was admiring me. Ahmed (Janine's boyfriend) told him that I was likely walking to Janine's place. We did indeed meet there and formed a mutual connection. I was dating a cute German embassy boy at the time, but I eventually threw him over for DH. That was more than 26 years ago. I have retained the alluring J. Crew barn jacket I was wearing that day for posterity.

UmmLila - How lovely that you still have the jacket ,I kept the Burberry raincoat my husband bought me from Harrods when we first met !!

We met in college. We both majored in political science but I didn't know him at all until a friend of mine asked me to look him up. So I found out who he was and introduced myself. It turns out that this mutual friend of ours had a bit of a romantic interest in DH, but he picked me! We've been together for 16 years and married for almost 10.

UmmLila, who knew how alluring barn jackets could be? Thanks, J. Crew, for sparking love along the Nile. And okay Burberry, we think you're pretty cool, too.

Congratulations, bella, on finding the perfect political scientist match!

I'll tell it in person on the YLF cruise we are all going to do one day.

We met in 7th grade - Latin class.

Alaskagirl, you have me in suspense :).

I'd finally gotten over a bad long-term relationship and decided to go to a huge local church to shake things up in my life. I started going to their new-members class on Sunday nights and each week they asked a table full of people to stand up and say why they'd chosen X church. I stood up and said "what the heck, I heard there were a lot of single guys here." Everyone laughed, and my now-husband asked me out during the break. We dated for nine weeks, got engaged, and have been married for 28 years! (I'd kill my daughter if she got engaged to someone she'd known only 9 weeks, but we were 27 and had dated a lot). He was totally different from the kind of guy I usually went for - much more outdoorsy and so sweet and gentlemanly. The fact that he was a dead ringer for Robert Redford was a bonus.

What fun stories! OK, I'll share.

Short answer. We met at a bookstore/cafe (sadly, it is long closed).

Longer version. I was literally 24 hours post-breakup with my previous boyfriend, so I was SO not looking to meet someone. In fact, I went to the cafe because I didn't want to go straight home from work and wallow in sadness. I figured that having a little dinner and reading out in public would keep me from feeling quite so alone and miserable.

As I sat there and read, I did notice my future husband sitting a table over and across from me, also reading. Of course I would notice a good-looking guy sitting there, but like I said, I was not exactly on the hunt, so I got absorbed in my book. At one point, I chuckled out loud at what I was reading, and he asked what was so funny. I told him about it, and I can't remember what the book or the exact story was, but it was a clever response that a tall character gave to the incessant remarks people made about their height. Well, I hadn't seen my future husband standing yet at that point, so I didn't realize he was 6'6". But he laughed too and told me that when people ask how tall he is, he always says "5'2". We then got to talking about all kinds of stuff -- music, travel, Rilke...we talked for so long we were still there at closing time, with all the chairs being put up around us. That was almost 19 years ago.

My father-in-law was our matchmaker.

Our parents worked for the same mission organization for many years but our families never met. I grew up in Panama while he was mostly in the US, (he spent a little time in Mexico). After graduating, I wasn't ready to be too far from home, so I ended up back in Panama working in the mission office. When I was 20, my dad and his two co-workers were kidnapped by a guerilla group, so my family ended up back in the states. That is when I met my soon to be father-in-law. He helped my mom, brother and me figure out the logistics of where to live, and behind the scenes was telling his son all about me. They had us over for dinner and that was all it took. My future husband's work schedule was a little crazy so at first I spent more time with his parents than I did with him. Even though I was 20 and he was 23, we never looked back. We were married just shy of one year later, but to this day I tell his parents that I fell in love with them first.

It took 8-1/2 years to find out that Dad, and the other two men, were killed about 3 years into their captivity. We have been married 22 years now, and after losing our firstborn to cancer, we and our 13 year old son are clinging to each other with everything that we have. We are each other's true loves and best therapy.

OMG, Sarah, that is an incredible and heartbreaking story! But how amazing that such an awful happening also brought you and your husband together.

You have been through so much, and your spirit is incredible. I am in deep admiration of you.

Aw, thank you Janet. You are so sweet. I think my biggest lesson has been than life is too short not to love with all of our hearts...

BTW - I loved your story and was cracking up over the irony of how he turned out to be tall!

Oh Sarah, that is truly a story of amazing courage and deep heartbreak. I am so very sorry for the loss of your father and daughter. I am sure it has brought an extra dimension to your life with your husband and son. Every day must seem so precious.

Janet, you must have amazing instincts to go to exactly the right place to meet Mr. Wonderful! It gives the term "book lovers" a whole new meaning! Cheers on your 19 years of togetherness.

Thank you so much, Xrabay. Yes, every day is so precious!

SO many beautiful stories. SarahTheWhite, you bought tears to my eyes!
I met my lovely husband when I was 15 and he was 16, at a beach party up the coast where we were both holidaying. Turned out we lived in the next suburb to one another at home! We had mutual friends - one of his friends was dating one of mine - so we may have met back at home anyway.
And we have been together since then, never apart, and married now for 21 years.

I'm met my hubby at a Xmas party 16 years go but did not date him until much later. At that time, I had been single for a while, in my picky stage, and not really interested with the guys that were there. Each guy was a "no, no, and a BIG no"...including him! Yes, this was based on purely on physical appearance since I hadn't really talked to any of them. Hah!

Fast track a few weeks later at a small indie bar/club that I used to go. I met up with mutual friends and he had randomly shown up. We chatted for a while but I still wasn't interested. He asked for my number but I bluntly told him to ask my friends. Later, he asked to dance so we ended up dancing until closing time. Then he asked to walk me home. I said okay. I still wasn't sure about him but I invited him to my New Year's Eve party and he said yes. I finally gave him my phone #.

New Year's Eve party - he shows up late because he had witnessed an accident, and we really hadn't really talked but he stayed until everyone left. My best friend told me that since he was still there, that it was a good sign and that if I didn't go for it, I was an idiot. I walked him back to his car and noticed baby car seats which took me aback (WTH!). Ummm... kids???!! ! NO WAY!! But the he explained to me that it was his sister's and that was a huge relief. I had to laugh about it afterwards.

And so I waited a week+ for his phone call and had not heard from him and was baffled why he hadn't called when I realized my land line # was dead. I had forgotten that I was changing my phone company and had missed my appointment.

After getting reconnected, I finally heard from him. He had said that he had been calling and calling, and that if I didn't pick up the phone this last 13th time, he was going to give up on me. And with those words, we've been together since.

SarahTheWhite, I am so happy that you and your husband found each other, and so sad to hear about your dad and his coworkers, and about your firstborn. I literally can not imagine it.

Thank you Lucy and Barbara Diane. You are so sweet.
I am loving all of these stories - not one is the same. Just beautiful!

Super thread! Here's my addition...
Almost 7 years ago, I hit a wall with my commute of roughly 4 hours a day. I decided that the only way (other than moving) to reduce it was by taking up street motorcycling. On the ferry system here in Seattle, bikes load first and can almost always squeeze on in the cracks. You haven't lived until you've experienced being left behind for another hour wait when the boat is full. Anyway, I had bikes in my genes...had been raised riding dirt bikes and my father always had a street bike for getting around town and various competition bikes for motorcycle trials that he rode well into his 70's. I hadn't ridden in ~25 years and had never piloted a heavy street bike. After taking the safety class required to get my endorsement, I toodled on down to the local motorcycle shop to see about getting a bike. As I was browsing, sitting on the very few bikes suited for my 5'2" stature, a salesman approached and asked me if I needed any help. I related my needs for a commuter bike low enough to accomodate me, so he asked what types of bikes my friends rode. Anyone who knows street-biking culture knows that there are two main classes of motorcycle style. We like to refer to them as Power Rangers or Pirates, the latter being what one thinks of when hearing the term 'biker'. My response was along the lines of "I really don't have any friends that ride, so I'll pick my bike and THEN find some friends to ride with". His very helpful response to that was, "I get off work in an hour. Want me to take you out on the street for your first ride?"
DH and I are very happily motorcycling together in our little Power Ranger outfits to this day.