Five Years

Five years ago I met the man who would become my husband. I've told this story before but it was before anyone really read my blog so I'll retell the story of how I met Tai:

In 2006, I signed up for match.com. I'd done internet dating before with mixed results. But I was willing to try it again. I wasn't meeting a lot of single guys in real life. After a few weeks, I saw Tai's profile. His picture was so cute. His profile was full of all sorts of things that I was looking for. I winked at him and waited for a response. For about a week we emailed back and forth. He was so funny. I loved getting his email. I didn't have a computer at home so I was sad when I left work and had to stop emailing him all day. He actually made me want to go to work! He made me laugh. I really wanted to meet him.
Tai had gotten a lot of emails from women from Russia. They were interested in getting him to get them visas. He wanted to make sure I was legit so he wasn't in a hurry to meet me. We scheduled our first meeting about a week after we started emailing. We met at a Starbucks.
Side note, in the emails discussing which Starbucks to meet at we discovered we lived a block from each other. We determined we never would have met without match.com. Despite living so close we just didn't go to the same places.
I got to the Starbucks a little early and grabbed a coffee. I was starving but not sure how this was going to go. He seemed so hesitant in his emails so I wasn't sure if he want to have dinner or just hang out. I was sitting there reading my book, waiting for Tai.
I started to get a little worried. It was about time to meet and he wasn't there so I scanned the Starbucks and looked out the window. I saw a guy learning up against a car outside, smoking a cigarette. He kind of looked like the guy I was supposed to meet. I figured that he was going to finish his smoke and come on in. But he didn't. He stayed there like he was waiting for someone.
I had emailed Tai earlier that day, saying let's exchange phone numbers in case one of us is late.
So I called him. I thought if this isn't the guy, then I'll hang up. But the guy outside answers his phone.
"Hi" I say
" Hi, how are you?"
" Good...are you going to come inside or do I have come out there and get you?"
Pause. "Are you here already?" As he rushes to the door. He comes in, laughing. He said later that what I said totally hooked him. I wasn't afraid, I was funny, and I knew what I wanted.
I remember that he shined, like the sun. His smile and his laugh hooked me.
"Let's have dinner" he said, hand outstretched.
I reached for it and didn't let go for the next five hours. We ate dinner, had more coffee. He introduced me to one of his roommates. I didn't want the night to end.
After I finally drove home, he called me and told me that not going home with me that night was very difficult for him. He didn't want me to leave. I never want him to leave now (or then). I couldn't wait to see him again. And I've felt that way since that first night.
Completely sappy I know. It's been the best five years of my life and I'm looking forward to many many more!