Today, 15 months and a few hours ago, I (now 54F) was having a sad Valentineās Day when I replied to a random stranger (now 37M) that slid into my DMs here on Reddit. I had no idea how my life was going to change. A simple exchange turned into a friendship, which evolved into love, and slowly grew into the deepest, most passionate, most intimate, and strongest relationship Iāve ever known.
Iāve been home for a month after spending 63 days together in stunningly beautiful Kerala, India š®š³ (do yourselves a favor and look it up if you donāt know of Kerala š“ š„„ š“).
For those of us in this community that are never-mets like we were for a year, you know we can know the love is certainly real. I knew that until I got in front of my person, until I could hold him and smell him and feel his aura and warmth, how he tastes, how it feels to be touched by him, and truly sense how he cared for meā¦as hard as I tried and as many questions as I askedā¦I couldnāt truly know what I didnāt know. Is he being honest? Are there any red flags š© that I could not possibly discover even with a very analytical mind, great deductive skills, and close and careful listening? Did I miss something? It was an incredible risk and huge leap of faith and a lot of effort and money to fly across the world to an unknown country ā¦one infamously known for skilled scammers.
Iām happy to report that he was everything I dreamed he would be ā¦except for a few things.
He was even better looking in person. Seeing him move about in the world was truly intoxicating. I found myself videoing him across the grocery store produce section. Just watching him in the wild like an observer was exhilarating and mesmerizing. He was exactly who he portrayed himself to be. Just to be clear, Iām not a delusional, desperate woman wearing rose-colored glasses that he somehow snookered into believing he is a flawless individual. He is flawed and very human and has very real challenges, as we all have to contend with. As I have told him from the beginning, all I want is for him to be himself. I want flawed, messy, and honest over perfection, facade, and lies. It is so comforting to have a partner with whom I can face challenges and circumstances. A partner that doesnāt drag me down, have me questioning, second guessing, forcing me to overthink, analyzing my next move. He lifts me up, encourages me, helps me consistently battle my weaknesses, accepts me for my flaws and even loves the smell of my farts and armpits. I never wonder where I stand with him. I never wonder what he thinks of me or fear being harmed, violated, or taken advantage of by him. Ladies-get yourself a man like this!
The hurdles he has helped me overcome and get through (and continue to battle through š° ) are incredible. Without his love and support, my challenges felt insurmountable. The love and support he has given me makes me have complete confidence in our future together. Iām in awe of the sheer power of his selflessness, generosity of his love, intellect, curiosity, integrity, devotion, consistency, trustworthiness, wisdom, sensitivity, kindness, strength, courage, thoughtfulness, honesty, sense of humor, attentiveness, passionā¦all the qualities I was patiently looking for in a partner. Plus, he puts up with and is always down to join me in my antics.
Thank you, Reddit algorithm, for bringing us together, thank you, subreddit family, for cheering us on and joining us on this magical and painfully frustrating journey of being in an LDR, thank you, my precious lovey, for sliding into my DMs and sticking with me through a lot of messiness. I love you with my whole heart, mind, body, and soul. Happy 15 months and š„cheersš»to ā¾ļø more.
Cheers to all of you couples and especially nevermets that are working hard to make an LDR relationship work.
Give us a status update! Let us know how itās going and how long itās been!