Deanna and Mike

Categories: Dating, Pen Pals, Friends: Success Stories
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Submitted by: Nannette | View Member Profile | View Other Posts
Created: 4/20/2004

I wasn’t sure about on-line romances at first. It never seemed to work out in the past. So, when I found CSD by total accident (Praise God) I gave it a shot. After all, what did I have to lose? If anything, I wasn’t any worse off than I was now.

As a member, I met a lot of great people through this site, but none of them touched me the way Mike did.

The first time I saw his picture, I was interested right away. I knew I wanted to write him, but the distance scared me. I never cared for the long distance relationships. I always ended up so heartbroken. So, what made this time any different?
In spite of the distance, I almost passed up his profile. In fact, that is exactly what I did. But day after day, he was all I kept thinking about. “This is crazy! I am thinking about a person I know absolutely nothing about!” After about a week of this absurdness, with the thought of if he had found that special someone, if one day I come on the site to his profile being removed ... I didn’t know what to do.

Well, when in doubt ... pray about it! And that is exactly what I did.


“God, you know that I want to eventually move down south where it is warmer. I would really like it if you could find me a guy that is from Michigan, who wouldn’t mind moving down south.” Well, if there is one thing I learned about praying is, sometimes God gives you EXACTLY what you pray for! Notice I said “Find me a guy FROM Michigan, instead of IN Michigan!” I learned you must be specific in your prayers! I asked for God’s blessing as I wrote Mike my first letter. With the distance, I wasn’t going to allow myself to get hurt again. So I was only looking for friendship, and nothing more. That way, when it ended, I wouldn’t get hurt. Never did I think it would lead to what it has become today. I mean, after all, he and I live 9 hours away from each other. One way!!!

Well, in spite of the distance that separated us, we kept writing back and forth. And even started calling each other on the phone, talking every single night for a good four months! And as it turned out, we had a lot more in common than we had ever anticipated.

He talked about his work, and what he does for a living. And he started naming some streets, and locations of the jobs he worked for. “Wait a minute... I have heard of this company before. I thought you said you were from TN.” Well, as it turns out, Mike is from TN, but has lived in Michigan his entire life, and moved to Tennessee less than 2 years ago.

As if the world wasn’t small enough, Mike and I have never lived more than 15 minutes from each other our entire lives!!! We have never met each other, never laid eyes on each other, but yet, we were practically neighbors our entire lives. Even as we both got married to different partners, we both ended up moving into the same county! With only a 10 minute distance separating us from each other. And we had no clue!

Mike always said that when he moved from Michigan, he would never go back to Michigan for anything. Well, it is a good thing God has a great sense of humor, and has enough sense to prove people wrong when he wants to! Never say never. It is funny, because Mike laughs about it and says “It took me moving 9 hours away to meet someone who lived less than 10 minutes away from me for the last 30 years of my life!”

Well, if life wasn’t going good already, it was only about to get better. I have never once in my life, been big on traveling by myself. In fact, I have never once in my entire life, been more than one hour from my house. EVER!!! So, when the kids went to their father’s house for a week, I packed a few things, rented a car, and started heading down south to meet a man I have come to learn about through voice only. Well, I won’t lie to you, Mike was the first person to tell me how crazy, and absurd it was to meet someone you have never met before way before my parents ever got the chance to! For every good reason to go down there, Mike had 3 reasons why not to. “If that was my daughter…”

Well, against my wishes, Mike flipped the entire bill for all the expenses for me to come down there to see him since I was laid off of work at the time, and he wasn’t. He paid for my rental, gas, everything! It didn’t cost me anything but the souvenirs I bought for my kids while I was down there.

Mike and I hit it off! It was great. A definite love connection! In fact, I am able to take a few days off work, and I am going back down there this Easter to meet his entire family. And he is making his way up to Michigan to meet my parents this summer. And if things go right, I will be moving down there within a year! Can life get any better than this?

It is funny, because a friend of mine gave me the best advice, and it was his advice that made me find Mike in the first place. “You can’t find love by looking for it. It is like holding on to a fist full of sand at the beach. The more you try and hold on to, the more it slips through your fingers. But when you get home from the beach, you aren’t looking for it, or expecting it in the least, but what is it you find? That’s right SAND! And it is EVERYWHERE!!! I wasn’t looking for love when I found Mike. In fact, that was the last thing I expected to find. It just kind of happened. (What a thing to say to someone on a dating service! Ha, ha!) Alas, he was right indeed!