How did you meet your significant other?

[Dilorenzo]

Bout 7 years or so ago I was getting out of not one, but two bad breakups (one IRL which left me with my varying degrees of emotional and physical scars, and one online where the girl decided that if I didn't do what she said and think what she wanted, I wasn't worth talking to beyond "in game" stuff). Anyway, I was pretty deep into MMOs back then. Still play em, but we're talking the "forsaking all other stuff" deep into them.

New one had come out, Lineage 2, and I was like, why the hell not? Not like I've got anything else going on, and hey, jiggle physics.

So, I start up, mess around for a while, and through an odd and mostly embarrassing series of events (I, uh, threatened to hunt down and kill someone's character over and over again at level 3) got invited to a Guild.

Most of these folks had been playing since Beta, and had played together in other games and social whatsits, like There. Didn't take long for me to become just another one of the group, though, and for the most part, it was just a fun time and a way to distract myself from, well, myself.

One of the members and I started talking. She was just in the process of getting divorced from her husband (nothing bad, exactly, he was just the dullest man in the universe), and was kind of looking for what I was - distraction. At first it was harmless fun, the, uh... talking, shall we say. After all, I wasn't in a hurry to get back into anything approaching a relationship, and she'd already decided that it would be better, and easier, for her to be alone.

Well, that didn't last all that long. Things got a bit more serious once she was fully divorced, and we started talking more and more. Moved from the game (where most of the group had started breaking up anyway) to Yahoo, or trying out other games that our computers could handle. That progressed to phone conversations (which ran up bills a couple of times, something that caused a little panic), and finally we decided we were going to have to meet up already because, well, talking wasn't quite cutting it anymore and we had already decided we were pretty much in love.

First time I saw her in real life she made my heart stop. Been married five and a half years, be six come November 5th. Not all of it's been easy, but I'd scalp someone for that girl.

[Moirae]

We met online playing a role playing game called Vampire: The Masquerade in 1999. We've been married for 5 years. I left my own country (Canada) to be by his side in the US because he was making enough money to support both of us while we waited for my work permit, and I wasn't making that amount.

He's such a good man. Thoughtful, kind, caring, strong, intelligent, exciting, fun, understanding, and more. He is a wonderful man, and I got very lucky. He says he feels lucky too.

Before I met him, I would have said that kind of love is a story only. But they are true. If you find the right person. And nothing is ever perfect, no matter how wonderful.

We didn't expect it to happen, and we didn't plan for it. But life wouldn't be life if we weren't together.

[Lady Legira]

This is going to be long and cover two meetings of SOs since it's pretty much related.

So when I was at college I was looking at the internal net (this was 94-95) and one of the sections on it was looking to meet people with similar interests, selling things etc. I saw a post on it that covered fantasy novels and sci-fi so I responded. We emailed each other for a bit and agreed to meet. Became fast friends and sent each other regular letters and cards after college. While he was at Uni we (me and sister) moved into a new flat and it was our 22nd birthday soon so we had a party (we didn't have a 21st for many reasons). He came along and we were pretty much picking up threads of conversations we'd been having the last time we met. Got pretty merry and he went to kiss me on my cheek and I turned and our lips met.

10 years later we had been married for 7 years and I lost him to swine flu, it broke my heart into a 1000 pieces. 5 months later someone I had known and spoken to one odd occasions while my hubby was sorting things when speaking to him rang out of the blue. We chatted for quite a while as he was having a good few problems himself. Then he attempted suicide which he came out of quite well as it made the social services sit up and say what can we do to help and we carried on chatting and I was better for him then most of the shrinks were as he finally began to talk about his previous extremely abusive relationship. He had nearly died twice and had a marble chopping board and rolling pin broken on him. (but that's for the other thread). Also his epilepsy had been going way out of control which they rebalanced his meds on. Gradually we just drifted together, I went down to see him and we talked a hell of a lot then pretty much enjoyed having someone to listen to each other and decided we try out a relationship and see how it went due to my widowhood and his past issues. We've gone over a year now and we are pretty darn cute.

[the_std]

My SO and I work together, in two different departments of the same store. We started hanging out with a group of co-workers who were all about our age and just liked to go out for a drink once the store closed. I was dating the man I thought I would marry at that time, so my SO got the nick name "Hot Coworker" cause I could look, but not touch.

Then, when my at-the-time boyfriend dumped me out of the blue just as I was about to move to a different city for him, I kind of fell apart. He had been a rock through a lot of my issues, but we had many problems in the bedroom, even though he had the body of a GOD (think Hugh Jackman as Wolverine), so I was left feeling... Frustrated. Gradually, Hot Coworker and I hung out more and more, and then he decided to take me out for a romantic date on my birthday. It was at that time that I got to take a lot of my frustrations out on him, so to speak. Yum! We've just been it ever since and, even though I know I will be with him forever, I don't feel the urgency to ZOMFG GET MARRIED MAKE IT OFFICIAL OR ELSE YOU LOOOOOSE like I did with my ex. We're just gonna take things as they go.

[dragon_wings]

I met my boyfriend on Facebook while still living with my ex girlfriend. :P
He lives in NYC and I live in Baltimore.
The breakup was really bad and she was still trying to manipulate me so talking to BF (he was just a friend at this point) helped me not go completely batshit.
Within 4 days in February (of this year) my relationship with my BF became official and I moved outta my ex's place.
I went to visit him about a month later.
Since then we talk on the phone often. As soon as his band records their album he will come and visit me (such is the life of the girlfriend of someone in a band. :P).
It's only been 5 months but he makes me so happy.
He has told me that I fit his mental image of the perfect girlfriend in all ways except one... I don't smoke cigs.

Oh and he's 19 while I'm 24. I've been called a cradle robber and a cougar. :P

[Jester]

I haven't. I am very single, and very available. But that's besides the point.

Rather than be a downer to this thread, I'll tell y'all how I met my ex-fiance many years ago.

September 11, 2002, the one year anniversary of 9/11, I'm just leaving work at the restaurant I worked at. I get a call from my friend Smiley, who tells me that she is downtown at a particular bar, and she is there with her British friend, and that I should come down, as Smiley thinks me and The Brit would get along.

So, having nothing else planned, I head down to said bar, looking rather scruffy (in need of a haircut and a goatee trim). And when I got there, I met up with Smiley, and her friend...who was one of the most obnoxious, irritating, exacerbating, arrogant woman I had ever met. Apparently she was used to guys that would come up and start talking to her, and she'd verbally eviscerate them, and they'd cower from her, and then she'd mellow out. I was NOT what she was used to. She'd take a shot at me verbally, I'd return fire. And it went back and forth like that the whole night. I am a smartass, but so was she, and we verbally jousted the whole time. At many points in the night, I really just wanted to duct tape her mouth shut.

A few hours later, we were at my friend Frank's magic bar. At one point, Frank had me get behind the magic bar and perform for a set. During which, The Brit continued to be a pain in my ass, heckling the act, as it were. Unfortunately for her, Frank and I specialize in dealing with obnoxious hecklers, so I had no problem dealing with her and continuing with my act.

Shortly after that, at one point Frank and one of his buddies look over....and there's the Brit, sticking her tongue down my throat. And Frank and his buddy are in shock, as they had witnessed the verbal firefight earlier. Now, being the gentleman that I am, I recognized that The Brit was very drunk, so I sent her home with Smiley, rather than trying to take advantage of the situation. (No, seriously.) And, after their departure, when I strolled back over to the magic bar, Frank and his buddy were standing there with their jaws on the floor. His buddy said, "Dude, that was the best magic trick I've ever seen." I looked at them. "What the hell are you talking about?" To which Frank said, "Jester, she wanted to cut your throat!" Me: "No she didn't. I knew that. Didn't you?" And I had known that. I don't know how, but I had.

Next day, realizing how scruffy I looked, I made a point of getting a haircut and getting my goatee trimmed, realizing I'd probably be seeing The Brit again. (At least hoping I would.) That evening did, in fact, find me in the same original bar with Smiley and The Brit. And somehow, we got to talking about the night before. And when I mentioned the fact that we had been making out, The Brit denied it, saying it absolutely did not happen, that she remembered nothing of the sort. (All of this in her posh "Absolutely Fabulous" (for those of you who remember that tv show) British accent.) Not to be put out, during one lull in the conversation, I leaned over and planted one on The Brit. After which, she leaned back, looked at me oddly, and said, "Now I know you're lying, because I would have remembered that!" One of the best (if oddest) compliments I've ever had.

Nine days later we were engaged.

[MaggieTheCat]

Well, I first met my husband online about 14 or so years ago. (I don't remember all the dates very well since it's been a long time.) I was 12-13ish, he was 14-15ish. We met in an IRC chatroom where the topic was video games.

About 6-8 or so years ago, my husband (well, he wasn't my husband at the time) came to see me over Christmas break. I was living in Wisconsin, he was going to school in Texas. I think we were both in college, or I might have been a Senior in high school. We hit it off pretty well but were nothing more than friends. I think we had briefly talked about dating but with the distance between us and both of us going to school we decided against it. And he said, at the time, that he wasn't interested in me romantically anyway.

We remained friends, we did drift apart for a few years when he was finishing school, but after he graduated and moved to San Antonio we got back in touch and started talking regularly, first online, then on the phone. After a year or so of this, he invited me to come see him sometime.

I was a little nervous, 'cuz I'd never been anywhere on my own. I think I was about 22 at this point and hadn't really had a serious relationship before. But I took the plunge and went to see him and we hit it off marvelously.

We did the long distance thing for about 2 or 2 1/2 years before I moved down to Texas to be with him. Our 2 year wedding anniversary is coming up in a couple of weeks.

He admitted to me while we were dating that he actually was interested in having a relationship with me that first time we met, but for various reasons he didn't act on it. I think it was for the best because we were both young and in school and I don't know that it would have worked out back then.

[Tora]

My best friend had recently gotten into a relationship with a man who is now her husband. He was taking her out to dinner with a large group of his friends, so she asked me if I would come too, just so she had someone she knew there. So I said yes. I met a lot of people that night who are now my friends, and a guy that I kept hearing interesting and rather insane things about. A few weeks later we all got together again, including this crazy guy, and I learned how to play Munchkin. At one point in the game, he was about to win, even though everyone was throwing all their high-level monsters at him. I finally threw a Level 2 Pitbull into the mix and he actually had to start running away from all the monsters, because he couldn't fight them anymore.

After a while I had been going to college for a music degree, specifically Composition. Towards the end of the two-year program, the college arranged it so that each major could put on a concert to showcase their skills, so we in the Composition major all scrambled to find musicians to play our pieces. I had invited the crazy guy and the rest of my friends to come, as well as my parents. That night, I went back to my best friend's place and after a while she sat me down and we talked about me and the crazy guy and how it was pretty clear that we liked each other. She encouraged me to ask him out.

Now, at this point, said crazy guy and I had been talking online while he worked in Fort MacMurray on a job I later found out was pretty horrible. At one point we spent an entire Sunday talking online. I found out later that he spent a lot of time talking to me online, a lot more than anyone else. So, a few weeks after the concert, while talking online and with my best friend in another chat window cheering me on, I asked if he wanted to see a movie some time. He said yes. ^^ This was complicated, however, by the fact that I lived two and a half hours away from him at the time. So I drove down in the middle of the last week of the semester to go catch Run Fatboy Run with him. Afterwards we went back to his place and pretty much confirmed it for ourselves that we actually were pretty smitten with each other. I crashed on his couch because of how late it was and how far the drive was. I did a bus trip every other weekend for almost a year before I moved in with him.

We've been together for three years now, and in August we'll be getting married. ^^

[Food Lady]

I've been called a cradle robber and a cougar.

Honey, you're too young to be a cougar. You have to be at least 35.

[Treasure]

epic "How we met story" is epic....

It must have been about Memorial Day weekend, I went "the Club" (the only Goth Club in my town, named the Greek name for Heaven)

and I went alone, I just wanted to go out, and be petted, and loved, and dance and be silly, or whatever... I was sitting outside chatting with one of my "club girlfriends" when a couple of tables over, I hear/see these 2 guys, and they're being loud and goofy... like, making noise at the gawkers passing by - trying to elicit a response.... some how the 2 tables ended up pushed together, and the 5 or so of us were just bsing...

then comes the end of the night (the "ugly lights" are about to come on) and my friend and her guy are about to head to breakfast, and she asks me where I'm going, I replied home, unless I get distracted (and looked meaningfully at guy who is now my bf) then something was said about getting out of shoes, and the guys were like "I don't know how you ladies can stand to wear those things, don't get me/us wrong we appreciate all it does, we just don't know how you do it.." and for whatever reason BF knelt down, and was supposed to be seeing how muscular my calves are, but I got off balance, and kinda fell into him, faceplanting him into my cleavage...

I drove him to his (parent's) place, where he started to make me "breakfast" but we got distracted....

I left thinking I'd never see him again, and that was cool...

The next week I went out to the club with a friend (QE) and her date, and picked up another regular @ the club.
That night at the club there was apparently a water fight going on; and for most of the night QE was dancing and ignoring her date - not to be rude, but she likes to dance, and he looked out of place - like he would've been more comfortable at a different club.... not at the Goth/ Industrial club. Well, at one point, QE came back over to the pool tables (where I was chilling with her date, got him to play pool w/ BF) and I let her know that her tights had gotten wet... (I wasn't sure if she sat in water from the water fight, if she got them wet when she went to the restroom, either off the floor, or if she really was that drunk...) she then proceeded to freak the fuck out and acted like I told her that to be hurtful, when all I informed her of was the fact that her tights were wet...

I later bought her a shot, hoping to smooth her (un justly) ruffled feathers, and sat down opposite her, where BF was, he and I started talking, and exchanged phone numbers right there.... QE continued with her "poor pituful me" antics til I was pissed, I took her and her date back to the house she was staying at; dropped the CR off at her appt, and took BF home - all the way on the opposite side of town....

we ended up talking several times over the next week, and finally went out on a "date" at the ROT Biker Rally - that date was more of a double date, b/c my boss and the gentleman she was seeing at the time also met up downtown, and she had her 6yo daughter - eventually I took everybody back to my house... so that boss lady could take her car over to gentleman's place... BF and I felt it was still early, so we went to Karaoke and when he went outside for a smoke some girl was quasi hitting on him, and he said something about being there with his GF... at the end of the night I also asked him about calling a spade a spade, and so we became official that night...


We have been together 13 months, moved in together back in April, and I will not be surprised when he proposes...

which is why I have designed this ring

and we've already had some "hiccups" and nearly broke up twice, early on in our relationship, but we've communicated and worked things out and in Nov we are joining my parents in Las Vegas for their 21st wedding anniversary celebration (NO WE ARE NOT GETTING MARRIED WHILE THERE!)

[AccountingDrone]

B]Nov we are joining my parents in Las Vegas for their 21st wedding anniversary celebration [/B] (NO WE ARE NOT GETTING MARRIED WHILE THERE!)

Yeah right.

[Cat]

First meeting: at a mutual friend's 30th bday party...we didn't talk too much, but he must have remembered me because...

he then joined same mutual friend, mf's gf, and myself to a St Paddy's outing...where he stole my beer when I wasn't looking.


HE still steals my beer

[orcprincess]

I met my Kevipoo in the crew bar onboard the now removed Pride of Hawaii, where we both worked. I was sitting with a friend of mine, discussing how this job prob isn't the best place to meet men...or have relationships. We decieded we were just going to focus on Hawaii and money!!! Not 5 minutes later, Kevin walked in, and I told her I was going to marry him, and have his babies! I quit working on ships(August 2008)...moved to Denver, told him I wanted him to come out here...he visited me for a week...2 weeks later, he proposed(November 2008)We got married May 11, 2009. I love him more than anything.

[Kogarashi]

Hubby and I first met during our freshman year of college, way back in 2000. We first noticed each other at the school's storytelling club (a shared interest), then later realized that thanks to a freshman class-placement program, we had two classes together. We hung out as friends that first year, and then he went on a two-year mission (as many young men in our church do). I proceeded to be either the world's best stalker (since he didn't know I was "stalking" him) or the world's worst stalker (because I really only kept up with him a grand total of three times, and two of those were while he was still training before heading abroad).

However, since I was one of three freshman-year friends who did keep in touch (one of the others being my roommate), I was one of three people his mom contacted for potential housing options when he got off his mission in 2003. My roommate and I suggested the complex we lived in (the third friend didn't have any suggestions), and so Hubby moved into the complex. His first exposure to me after getting off his mission was finding me, with my three roommates and a few of our friends, all in costume and having an anime-watching party. To his credit, despite not being interested at all in anime or even understanding what was going on, he didn't run screaming. I immediately invited him to Preference (girls-ask-guys dance, a little over two months later) so none of the other girls in our complex could beat me to the punch.

The next few months we dated sporadically, then more seriously the following semester, then officially by the end of finals. A month after finals he proposed to me (surprising me with the perfect ring, showing he'd been paying attention way back six months previous when my roommate and I were having a disucssion about our ideal engagement rings), we got married four months later, and here we are just shy of seven years later with two beautiful girls and a third on the way.

[Indigo]

Um.

I dated his roommate for two years?

Yeah, it's sounds worse than it actually is.

I think I can do one better - I met mine at a family reunion....

NOT MINE... at least at that time it wasn't.

So junior year of high school I meet this guy, B. He's cool and we hang out a ton. His parents meet my mom at an end of the year party for our German class. Mom thinks his dad is hot, but then meets his mom and says oh well. Once the party is over and the mom and dad are going their separate ways, then she realizes they're divorced. Well B helped my mom and I move over the summer. Then he invites me to his birthday party/family reunion and I ask if I can bring my family along. He says sure. My mom and his dad hit it off really well. At the party I meet one of his older cousins, A.

Fast forward three years. B and I have gone our separate ways. I started hanging out with A since he was fun to be around and could talk about cars and stuff. In the meantime mom and B's dad really hit it off - they got married May 2009. At the wedding A finally realizes that I'm single and starts following me around like a lost puppy. We start dating and get engaged 10 months later (March 2010).

So technically I have dated my step-brother and am marrying my first cousin. We have already agreed that at the reception, "I'm My Own Grandpa" by Ray Stevens will be played.