How did you meet your wife?

[Angus]

It was in 1997. I had taken a break from my Icelandic farming and was working first as a farm-hand and then on a construction project on a big horse and horse related show in Essen in N-Germany.
The show is quite some project and attracts some 500.000 people, - well it did back then.
I was unloading trailers full of various items when I almost bumped my head into this lovely girl who was unloading this trailer.
I was 31, and what crossed my mind was "oh, what a lovely young lass", and then "skip it you old bugger, she seems to be 17".
We worked together for some 10 days and made friends. She was actually 23 and about to graduate as a lawyer, - she just looks very young!
We hooked up some one and a half year later, she moved to my country, we built a house in 2001-2002, got married in 2003, and had the first child in 2004. We have 3 now, all girls.
She still looks like 17.....almost.....

[Golfer]

No I dumped her because she was way to obsessed, she would rather hang with her anime friends. Or whenever we hung out it was all about anime, then she started dressing in insane outfits that suited her show at the time. Im sorry but it was way to embarrassing

You'll never be happy with a hot chick then.  And you'll never understand what the little nerdy redhead girls who like getting dressed up in their little character outfits have to offer.  Or the cute Japanese girls that like their anime or hello kitty nonsense.  You'll never realize that you want a chick who had her own interests and isn't up your back side all the time because when a girl puts you as her life's priority she no longer has her own soul.  You want your girl to have her own interests if for no other reason so you can get the heck away from each other from time to time.  It's cool if a girl likes to golf, fish, shoot, hunt, fly, work on cars, race or ski but it's a problem if she likes all of them because  I'm all out of escapes.

I've had girls after just a few dates throw the "I'm ready to settle down within a year" thing out.  Byebye.  I notice a lot of people I know who are looking just anyone, rather than a someone, to be with for the sake of it.  It seems they won't be complete in their eyes without a husband/wife figure whereas I hold out that it's more special than that.  It's organic, it grows stronger over time and while you can certainly have strong feelings at the first moment of that instant click, the real love is generated by the details of someone you can't possibly know about until you've been with them for a longer period of time.

Until I find that I'll have my guns with night vision, my truck, my car, my airplane, my skis, my golf clubs, my boat and MY retirement portfolio. (all of them are "mine" not "ours" - very important)  The trial and error method when it comes to women isn't something to be so quickly dismissed when you're biding time waiting to have that right one cross your path.    Women and children cut into your discretionary play budget enough that it doesn't really exist from what I've seen.  Gather up your toys ahead of time and your chances of keeping them increase dramatically.

There are plenty of good ones out there.  If you're a younger guy into older women there are plenty of divorcee's out there 35-40 who are rediscovering themselves after 10 year marriages.  That's just one 28 year old professional's opinion...

All that said I admire the folks who have truly found that someone special and know it.  They're genuinely happy even when there are bumps in the road.  They're supporting each other when life all but implodes.  Separately they're great individuals, together they're two great individuals who help each other grow rather than a collective "we" who gets to that point and no further.  They're fortunate and they know it.  Good on all of them and best of luck to them

[B-17]

Golfer... Well said, sir.

[F22RaptorDude]

Golfer... Well said, sir.

Agreed

[USRanger]

I'm amazed at the amount of people that meet online.  Even at age 35, I guess I'm behind on the times.  Never even considered doing the social media/dating site thing, don't think I ever will either.  Even so, it's good to see it's worked for so many of you.   

[oakranger]

She was a senior, editor on the journalism department. I was a junior. She had a crush on me at the time, but I never saw her before. One day, she wanted to do a fake interview with me on homecoming, her plan was to ask me out to the event. After a few questions, she did not realizing that I was working on dating another girl (biggest mistake I ever made  ). Three months later, I went after Nikki and started dating. To this day, we have been together 16 years, married 11 years.   

[dkff49]

Met mine at work. So far it has been the longest one night stand ever, almost 17 years since our first night out.

I had just started working there and it was her first night back after giving birth to her first daughter, the one that I made the chest for 1 1/2 years ago.

That first night out was at a dive bar and then a quick trip back to her place, where it felt so perfect that I never left and here we are married 15 years and still the happiest couple that I know.

The more I think of the series of events the more it seems like we were truly made for each.

And as stated by Golfer the time away is as important as the time together to have a great relationship with your significant other.

[Grayeagle]

Nicely stated Golfer.

I try to steer away from all the corny sayings .. but .. they all apply when I think of Kathy.
She truly is my better half ..and so on.

Umm .. I had my toys before Kathy and I were married, and continued with them.
She wont say it out loud .. but . I know she enjoys hearin the Vette wind up thru the gears off a light.
Not as much as I do .. but .. still .. she smiles
Sharing the fun is important.

Escapes are good to have also.. she hangs with our grandkids now an then,
and I zone in Rift or Hearts of Iron 3 now an then

We have been takin it one day at a time for 40 years.
Life would be a lot rougher without her.

-Frank aka GE

[DREDIOCK]

I first met my wife 36 years ago when we were 13 and she was my best friends girlfriend...or as much of a girlfriend as you can have at 13.
We started going together 3 years later at 16 and we've been married 27 years.

[cpxxx]

Yes, Golfer pretty much hit it on the head. Today being an example of why my relationship works. Today the weather went bad, so no flying for me. She  thinks, great. I'll meet up with my old friend and head off for a nice day leaving my husband with our boys. So off she goes has a lovely day with her best friend. I spend the day changing diapers, keeping the boys from killling themselves in between feeding them Pizza.

Neither of us thinks this is odd. On another day I leave at dawn and return at dusk, return home tired as a dog. She never complains, she knows how it is. The life of a working pilot.

Another example, recently I had an engine problem followed by an emergency landing. So I call her, once she establishes I'm not dead and coming home early, she says 'Great, we can go shopping'.

Tonight she cooked me a steak dinner an with expensive French wine.

We are partners.

[mechanic]

Met mine at college. About the only good thing I got out of education apart from a handfull of friends.

[guncrasher]

when i met my current girlfriends, she told me there were two things she diddnt want, kids or marriage.  we still together after 10 years, unmarried and no kids between us.  she makes more money than I do, so yeah, she's a keeper  .

one thing that my friends find odd, is that i dont keep anything from her.  they have asked me several times if I wanted to go to the topless bar, i just call her and let her know I am going.  they're all amazed that she doesnt get mad.  then again, she trusts that all I do is look and tip.  which is all I do.  have gone out to lunch with old gf's and highschool sweethearts, I always let her know, where I am going with who and what time I'll be back.  she has never gotten jealous.  it's called trust.  she trusts me and I trust her. 

semp

[Wildcat1]

when i met my current girlfriends, she told me there were two things she diddnt want, kids or marriage.  we still together after 10 years, unmarried and no kids between us.  she makes more money than I do, so yeah, she's a keeper  .

one thing that my friends find odd, is that i dont keep anything from her.  they have asked me several times if I wanted to go to the topless bar, i just call her and let her know I am going.  they're all amazed that she doesnt get mad.  then again, she trusts that all I do is look and tip.  which is all I do.  have gone out to lunch with old gf's and highschool sweethearts, I always let her know, where I am going with who and what time I'll be back.  she has never gotten jealous.  it's called trust.  she trusts me and I trust her.  

semp

My old youth group director and mentor once told me "trust is the glue that holds good relationships together"

Personally, I met my (future) wife in 7th grade gym, she whooped my butt at basketball . We became friends, and started dating at 16. Five years later, I'm saving up the money to buy a ring and propose but without a doubt we have stuck together so long because we are 100% honest to each other, and because I never let myself get in the way of her ambitions. And she's totally fine with the fact that I get my commission next year. What golfer said is completely correct, by the way.

[Kazaa]

I married my intern

niccccccccccccccccccccccce.

[Reschke]

Lets see I was playing college football and it was January 1993 and I had just ended a relationship with one of the cheerleaders at the university where I attended. I was working as a bouncer in the best music club in the state (Louie Louie's which used to be in Birmingham). It was a Thursday night (big party night then because we (UAB) were on a quarter system along with Alabama and Auburn at the time and just about everyone came to Birmingham each weekend to hear the bands that came through the club. I was working the back door and my wife was walking out onto the street with one of her friends; who I was actually attracted to initially; both had open beers which is a no-no in Birmingham and I had to stop them from getting arrested for that since both were underage (did not know ATM since had just met them) but that's another story.

Anyway they both come back into the bar and instead of leaving at 11pm they stayed till almost closing which was 2am. By that time I had numbers, addresses, knowledge of no boyfriends by either of them and a lunch date on Saturday with my wife. I had an anatomy and physiology lab 8am the next morning which was Friday and got a surprise project dumped in our lab groups collective laps that was due on Monday. Anyway I had to cancel our Saturday lunch date since I had to get back into the lab early on Saturday and work there till about 6pm when I broke out for work at the bar...no chicks that night since I smelled like formaldehyde. But we had rescheduled for a church date on Sunday...talk about fate, destiny, whatever you want to say about it.

We spent all that Sunday together and then we didn't talk at all for about a week and a half and then we occasionally went out over the next few months before settling down to dating each other exclusively. We got engaged about a year after meeting then we got married on August 5th 1995. We have two boys (14 and 8) and a little girl (4); our oldest was born in September of 1996 and the other two were May 2003 and March 2007. This anniversary will be 16 great years with some tough spots sprinkled in there but nothing that trust, friendship and talking hasn't gotten us through.