“Old fashioned”, that’s what people called me and my boyfriend, Brian. Just because we were being celibate till marriage. Was the idea really so outdated? Ok, so we’ve both been married before and each of us had children. Brian has a daughter and I have well, I have five kids. So why bother being celibate? It was important to us to be a “gift” to each other on our wedding night. Waiting shows respect and commitment in an era where people are living together before marriage. The “try before you buy” attitude is not biblical. Do I have little respect for those who choose that route? No. Life is about choices, we all do what we think is right for us. This was our choice. To follow God’s rules as outlined in the Bible. After all, we both have teenage daughters for whom we were trying to set an example for. Sure at times it was difficult, but worth the effort. With the help of five little chaperones, our dating life has been interesting to say the least.

We met in the most modern way, online. At first glance we seem like polar opposites. Brian was in Philly and I’m in Georgia. I’m black and he’s white. So what’s the biggest thing we have in common? Our faith. We looked like we had nothing in common, different cultures, backgrounds. We emailed each other and spoke on the phone daily. We had such a great connection. We are both nerds who love to read and do research. We shared many things in common and could talk for hours. He wanted a big family, I wanted a man who could cook. (Who could have dreamed he used to be an executive chef?) He also made it clear that he did not have casual sex and was saving himself for the woman he would marry. That was something I’ve never heard a man say and it made me love him all the more. So what if neither of us were virgins? We were to each other. He had plans to build a large home, but was about to give up ever having the family to fill it. He had been divorced for ten years with little dating experience and being a single 48 year old dad with a teenage daughter, his dream of a large family seemed lost. I was a 37 year old widow and had been for five years with more dating experience, (all heartbreaking), but no one that wanted to commit because I had “too many kids“. Could he be the one? We both were excited to know. We decided to meet in person to see if the chemistry was as strong in person as it was over the phone and computer.