An Anonymous Couple
When timing is everything
The Story of An Anonymous Couple
Our Story for friendsfirst
The couple in this story asked for their names not to be used and for the location
to be vague – the woman is a mature Anglican priest in the Midlands and the mature Christian man a research scientist who lived 90 miles from her home. At the time of meeting the woman was 45 and the man almost 50.
The woman tells the story though they both agreed this account.
Our story begins in June 2005 when I joined friendsfirst on an offer before the end of May and received my first set of profiles. I was looking for a mature christian man and I think there were 8, all within the age range and Midlands but I could see at once that there was only one mature Christian man with whom I would have any interests in common. Indeed his profile jumped out at me and so I sent a cautious introductory email including my profile as I guessed that he would not have yet seen it. Having explored relationships through another agency over the internet in the previous 2 years I had a little experience of the process.
It so happened that the mature Christian man was about to finish with friendsfirst and did not see my profile until after my initial message and that he was not in regular contact with anyone, though he had met many women over the years. We exchanged some emails and phone calls and then arranged to meet at a railway station on a Saturday afternoon. He emailed me a photograph, which I did not find attractive, indeed it reminded me of some other bachelors I had known but I put these unwelcome thoughts aside as we met and started talking. Indeed we talked and talked, for longer than either of us probably expected and by the end of that afternoon we agreed to see a play in Stratford 3 weeks later.
This was a very special afternoon and evening as we relaxed and chatted together and was a memory I treasured as we then went on our separate summer holidays. 4 weeks later was our 3rd meeting at the same railway station but this time it was wet so we did less walking but lots of talking. I took a photo of him which then remained by my bedside in the coming months.
That is how we started – a month or two later and his profile would not have been on the list sent to me. During that autumn we came increasingly close, managing to visit each other’s homes and to start to meet some of my friends and family. Having 4 nights away in mid October (when I stayed with a friend while he was in a B&B) was vital in giving us some unhurried time together. On 2nd December he proposed, to his own surprise, and I gladly accepted.
We were married in February 07 – the intervening months had many uncertainties as we struggled to know what was right. Were we really suited to each other? We each had some counselling, he for a short time while I had a longer period dealing with many issues from my childhood and recognising my fears and insecurities. What would it mean being married? We had both lived on our own for so long. Where were we going to live? Could we both have jobs in the same area? In the end we have married, moved to a new area for both of us as he has a new job and I am not in employment at the moment. We can see that God has led us together and brought us to this point so that we trust him to continue to guide us.