In 2002 I was a single woman after 18 years in a relationship that went nowhere. So, I moved out of my houseboat in Sausalito and in with my daughter and my 6-year-old granddaughter in San Leandro. I knew from the very start I would not stay there very long. After a year in San Leandro we packed up and moved into a third floor apartment in Dublin.
Slowly but surely my daughter taught me the basics of how to use a personal computer. I was housebound after two surgeries, so with all of this new free time I signed onto a free dating service; back then women were free while the men had to pay.
My service was partners with “Cupid,” another dating service. I was searching for a husband. I wanted an interesting, romantic man of the world; he had to be tall, dark and handsome and a few years older than me. In short, I wanted Clark Gable, Jimmy Smits or Antonio Banderas.
Who was I kidding? I wanted a man with a sense of humor! Along with grown children and an ex-wife who did not want more money or even worse; an-ex wife who wanted him back.
I carefully scanned the pages before me filled with handsome men, some younger than myself, some older. I found this man sitting on a sofa with a great smile. His name was Mike. The biography told me he was looking for a wife. Yea. I called him, he told me he was in the middle of something important online and would call me back.
By 10:30 that morning, we picked up on our conversation and made plans to meet that afternoon at Dave and Busters. The date was the 6th of June – D Day. This date meant something to us; Mike and I are Baby Boomers.
Mike comes from an island in Greece called Samos. This island was invaded by Germany and Italy during WWII.
Yet, we talked and drank vodka and laughed; of course we played the games in the arcade. After a one year courtship, we were married in the Omega restaurant in Milpitas. The next year we went to Samos for a month.
We were a match. It’s been 11 years.
So the third time is the charm; his third and mine also.
