OT - How Did You Meet Your Spouse/Current SO?

Was manager at a financial institution and she came in for in interview. As she walked into my office, I thought "WOW", but of course had to be professional. She was qualified for the position (stop yourself...thats not the position I'm referring to😉) and joined our team.

A few months later, I invited the team out for dinner and drinks on Friday after work. Snowstorm hit, but growing up in the U.P. it had no impact on me. She was the only other one to show up, as her older sister dropped her off. We had a nice time, and I told her I could give her a ride home. As I was cleaning snow off the car, she grabbed my tie, turned me around, and we kissed. 

I subsequently left the job to avoid any conflict, as our relationship grew.

37 years later we still laugh how it all began. 

Junior year, 1971. She lived upstairs in a 6 unit apartment building on Geddes. Married 5 years later. Engineers and nurses were primary dating couples. 

Middle school then reconnected years later on Facebook, She just remembered me as the bad kid that was always in trouble but got good grades…

Bumble! The dating app world is bigger than Tinder. Don't box yourself into just one app.

I found more educated/like-minded women on Bumble than Tinder for sure. Since the woman has to make the first move, I think generally they feel better about putting themselves on a site like that, too -- thus you find more "dateable" as opposed to hook-up-able girls on there. 

Fitting considering it's Mrs. Translator's birthday tomorrow.

We both went to the same church growing up, but there was enough of an age difference between us (8 years) that we weren't really aware of each other as kids/teens. We first met as "young adults" when I was counseling a youth summer conference in NY and she was in college (I was 28, she 20) in 2010. We really didn't interact much and in fact she met the guy who she dated for 4 years that summer (ironically, that guy ended up marrying the girl who introduced the two of them). We finally met as more mature grown-ups in 2017 at a graduation party and that's when things started rolling.

College. She was “ripe on the vine”!  I plucked her off and have never let go. 

Saw her around work.  One night ran into her at Rick's and the liquid courage helped me to strike up a conversation.  41 years ago.

We were in the same degree program at Michigan (Computer Engineering).  She was one of maybe 8 women in the program that was a total sausage fest.  So, I would see her in classes, but a friend of mine seemed interested in her, so I tried to fix the two of them up.  After seeing that wasn’t going to happen, I decided I’d ask her out.  After five years of dating and 38 years of marriage, the rest is history…

My son has been unhappy with most internet dating services and signed up for “It’s just lunch”.  He’s had much better results there.

Tinder. It’s not always bad.

Company softball team at work, although it was a year or so before we started dating. Luckily she ignored my terrible softball skills. This was around ‘06 so before online dating really took off.

Blind Date.  It was a tortuous 3-year courtship, but I was relentless in the face of her "I like you, kiddo, but I have a deep and abiding mistrust of all men".  That was 35 years ago, Despite how smart she is, I have stayed in the picture for the 34 years we've been married.  Both of us have done a lot of growing up in the meantime.

I had just moved to Chicago and didn't know anyone, joined a local running club that ran along the Lakefront. She was a member (as well as editor of their monthly newsletter), but had been out with an injury. The club would stop for muffins and coffee after the run; she came blazing in one fine October Saturday morning, and the next thing I know she was sitting across the table interviewing (she is a journalist, after all) "the new guy." I saw her again a few short weeks later at the running club holiday party, asked her out, and for all intents and purposes we were living together after the first date. Thirty-three years ago.

If you had told me that a "nice boy from Long Island," would end up happily with a girl from a ranch in rural Oregon after having met in Chicago, I would have never believed you...

OK, she read this (and other stories here with great interest), and now wishes to relate her side of the story, as always, she gets the last word:

I was 30, single and loving my independence. Never planned to settle down ever! But as winter approached I recalled that heat wasn't included in my rent. I also needed a VCR (it was 1989) and I didn't want to figure it out. He gave me a ride home from the running club Christmas party and a few weeks later when I had tonsillitis he rescued me. He provided heat and a VCR in his snazzy high-rise studio apartment and I surrendered.

She ask me to not light my swisher sweet in a Burger King and I replied ok and blew smoke in her direction,this was in HS.37 years,3 kids and 3 grands later all is well.🥰🥰

An incredibly lucky series of events and adventure: 

http://reedrambles.blogspot.com/2010/01/path-to-gratefulness.html

we met when she was 13 and I was 15 through mutual friends at a party. She was scared of me. At 15 I had a number of tattoos and a shaved head. I still have a shaved head and many more tattoos.

anyways, after she realized I’m not a very scary person (personality wise anyways) we started hanging out. We quickly became inseparable best friends for 3 years. Started dating and got married a year after we started dating. I was 19 and she just turned 17 (we had to wait until then and her parents had to “sign her over” to me). Every one of my friends and family said it was a stupid idea to get married that young.

anyhoo, 24 years later and I’m sitting here watching her laugh with our adult children and their significant others. Everyone who said “don’t get married you’re too young” has been divorced at least once.

To the OP. I have many people in my family/social circle who are not married and/or not in a serious relationship in their 40s. I’m married with kids myself, but the fact that I had lots of unmarried 40-something’s around me got me to do a little research as to why. I came across a fascinating article on this topic. In short, marriage is at an all time low in the US and is expected to continue that way for the simple fact people are becoming more and more happy being single/unmarried. So don’t fret my friend!

On the other end of the spectrum, my wife has a close girlfriend who is 40 and unmarried. The girl’s father is paying anyone $10k to marry her or knock her up. Crazy!

Was in the process of a much needed separation, she had just divorced. A mutual friend was pursuing her stunning ex-model loveliness and getting exactly nowhere beyond friendly interactions in the mutual friendship group.

She told him why she had no interest in him then outlined who/what she wanted - so out of exasperation, he said, "okay, I understand, then I've got the perfect guy for you except he lives fifteen hundred miles away, he's married, and is probably in Europe right now". (accurate statements). She thought he was completely either nuts or FOS and called his bluff by getting my private number from him and then calling me to see if I was real. 

We celebrate 40 years next month. The Keeper is still perfect for me. 

We met in college, ran around in the same set of friends. After a few months of knowing her I finally came to the conclusion I'd like to date her, our first date was on Valentine's Day, I proposed to her in September and we were married the following July. Two children and 3 states later, we've been married for 31 years and still going.

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We bought condos in the same building, but we didn't meet until she got a really cute little puppy. It really is true, dogs are chick/dude magnets.

I met my future wife at a fraternity-sorority mixer at Michigan in October of 1978.  I had seen her a few days prior, and was strongly attracted to her.  As luck would have it, she was at the mixer, I walked her home, invited her to the Billy Joel concert at  Crisler (which I happened to have tickets  for), and the rest is history.  We just celebrated our 40th anniversary this year.  

OP, great topic and you have gotten some great, substantive, and humorous comments.  i can only reflect on my single life which ended a 25+ yrs ago, but i'd say this:  do the stuff you love to do and while you're doing it, see who is around.  when i was single i had many interests, and accepting that faith was an important prerequisite - hunt, fish, boat, lift, fitness, football, triathlons, etc.  what do you like to do?  gamer, poet, runner, whatever, do that and keep your eyes open.  with the huge expanse of social media, find someone with common interests.

my brother was a widower, great guy, successful, former B10 football player who takes/took good care of himself and he was getting set up by his friends.  the funniest one was a coffee date where he said it was so bad he wanted to pull the fire alarm.  he is very happily remarried.

met mrs. XM at work, very large DA's office.  lots of other details but the very short version is that we were friends for about a year but, you know, there was something there.  we dated for a while, broke up for about a month +, then i saw her in court one day and i asked if she'd like to go for a boat ride that night. it was 4-5-95, we laid all of our figurative cards on the table during a long boat ride.  i asked her to marry me at Christmas '95 dinner in front of my family (thankfully she said, 'yes').  on wednesday it'll be 26 years and 7 kids.  grateful to God every day for my wife. 

It's time the tale were told:
We both had friends in the same local Grand Rapids band. Sat at the same table when they first played. Kept seeing her around at their gigs, but never really talked to her. I was interested but, she had a guy with her a lot of the time. Within a year, she had no boyfriend around at another concert and we started talking. Two months later I asked her out. Ended up dating/breaking up/dating/breaking up, but somehow figured it out after 2 years and got serious.  The event that got us back together was a concert that neither of us had friends that wanted to go - The Smiths. So we decided to go to the concert together. We've been together since. The Smiths broke up the next year.

Work. I liked her way before she liked me. Crazy how it all worked out. I worry about what will happen if she ever gets her vision back. :) 

In a Russian whore house while in South Korea. True story. There's more to the story of course but I like to lead with this fact and leave the rest untold. My wife doesn't appreciate this, but it isn't a lie.