It was a beautiful day in July, 2016 when we first met. We don't remember the exact date but the meeting was unforgettable. Mike was clear in his online profile that he was only interested in meeting a potential "friend." Karen was "done" with men and only joined the Christian Mingle dating site after watching a movie with the same name that inspired her that having a real love was possible. The experience of dating men after that 2am movie "revelation" however, was not inspiring. But she never gave up trying. After awhile on Christian Mingle, Mike wrote to Karen. We exchanged silly jokes for a few weeks and then agreed to meet.

We walked into Breaking New Grounds on a beautiful Saturday morning, and Mike encouraged us to order anything (Karen was training for her first triathlon and didn't want to do sweet things but they had nothing else to purchase and she didn't want to be rude so she bought some sweet things). Being a gentleman, he paid for our snacks. We sat down with our sweet things and Karen sighed (hopefully) internally as she really didn't really want to go off her training diet. Mike, as the most empathic person, picked up on something and told her to "smile." Karen looked up at him and instantly thought, "WHO is this guy to tell me to smile? I'll smile if I WANT to smile!!" So she flashed a fake smile. :) The rest of the conversation was a blur but we finished our snack and moved outside into the sunshine. Mike showed off his shiny, well kept motorcycle and we began a walk through the town of Portsmouth. About 50 steps from the coffee place Mike exclaimed, "this shirt only cost me $3." He also told her he doesn't give Christmas presents. Only one of those two statements was true!

That first day was an experience of jitters, hope and tentative joy. Mike also engaged us in a mindfulness exercise Karen had not heard of called the "10 sounds game." We sat very far apart from each other on a picnic table down by the sea, closed our eyes and listened intently. Individually, we counted the first 10 sounds we heard - it's was practice in being fully in the present moment and it was beautiful. We would use that game to center ourselves in the many lovely places we would visit over the next 8 years.

That first day, we walked all over the place and grew hungry for a real meal. A place he was interested in was not open yet so we obtained some sort of take out and sat on a cement planter outside the Music Hall. When we told the stories about how we ended up on a dating site after betrayal, he took his right arm, touched my left and told me he was sorry for my pain. In that moment, Karen felt a connection to the Holy Spirit. She felt it in the kindness and compassion in his touch, the intensity of his eyes and the reality that she had just spent the first day with her forever best friend.

There would be so many other days together both more and less intense as well as times of struggle, sorrow and joy in this journey; the Holy Spirit has been the glue that has kept us together since that first day.

Both of us had wanted to protect our children and didn't want our relationship to be the cause of any pain or discomfort for them. So throughout our courtship we referred to each other as a "friend" and nothing more. Anytime the children needed us, our relationship was put aside. As painful as it was to deny each other companionship, the beauty of putting others first made us stronger as a couple; it forced us to pray and appreciate each moment together because we didn't know when the next would be.

We may have found each other later in life but we promise to live it well. Whether we have 2 days or 20 years together, we will count every day as a beautiful blessing.

We hope you will join us in celebrating the joy of our union.