We were at 6th form college together (UK 16-18). We began seeing each other when we were 18. That was 26 years ago.

Married 20 years almost

Fucking Facebook. We went to different high schools on opposite sides of town so we were completely unaware of each others’ existence despite attended the same church and having overlapping friend groups. A few years after high school we were both fresh out of bad relationships and living back home with our respective parents, we happened to start talking in the comments on a mutual acquaintance’s post, compared notes and found that we were very similar people in very similar places in our lives and decided to meet up to get baked and commiserate. The first night we met in person I was planning to hang out for an hour or two then go to work, third shift loading trailers for Fedex. I ended up calling out of work, we sat up all night together just talking, parted at sunrise with the observation that both of us had a good feeling about this. Within 3 months we had moved in together and were also coworkers. That was 12 years ago, other than a 6 month break a few years in we’ve been up each others’ asses nonstop ever since.

In the local pub. I was in my mid-30s. Now married with kids, mortgage and a dog. All I ever wanted tbh.

Say what you want about pubs and alcohol, but I’ll take that encounter over a swipe on an app any day.

She hired me.

Cats: went to the cat shelter and chose them.

Though to be fair, only one of my cats chose me. The other I just fell in love with and had to take him even though he was hissing and scared and shit. He’s since turned into a cuddle bug

She lived in an entirely different city across the country (Europe, so like two hours of train ride).

She saw me on Facebook, based on photos from a goth festival in our city, so I got a message on Messanger from a profile without a profile picture and no mutual friends. We talked for a bit, I was single at the time, and we eventually decided to meet. I had no idea how she looks like, and I kind of found this idea of a blind date funny - either it works, or I’ll get a good story out of it.

We decided to meet and go to a local goth scene hangout, and not only she was really pretty, she also brought two bottles of mead. We managed to drink both of them before even getting to the hangout, where it turned out that she was actually not only a classmate of my best friend (a long time ago), but also used to be part of the scene around 5 years ago (before I joined it), before she went no-contact and changed her nickname due to a relationship (that eventually turned out really terrible). So, she knew most of my friends.

That was 7 years ago. At the time she was living in a small flat, after just getting out of a 7 y.o terrible relationship that she couldn’t leave due to having a mortgage, but she managed to save enough on a minimal wage to leave when she found out he was cheating. Her grandma was living with her in her small flat, and she was really a terrible person, even had her aunt with the most entitled child move in, and they were even worse. Always arguing, screaming, being rude, and just acting like dicks. She let them live with her, just because they had nowhere to go, even though she was earning a minimal wage. Them saying that “If we don’t like it, we should move out”, or that “I shouldn’t argue, because I don’t live here”, while I was actually helping her with rent they weren’t doing anything for was insane.

I kept visiting her almost daily, spending time in the one small 5x5m room she had for herself, even though it was two hour train ride. During covid, I was mostly staying at her place, and since she loved animals (her mother worked at a zoo, before cancer got her), we discussed what we want to get, and pet racoon was high on the list. And when she said that we will get a racoon once we live together, I immediately found a flat in my city, and we moved in together around 5 years ago. We stole the ashes of her mother and went no-contact with the people living at her old flat. They can burn in hell.

Unfortunately, racoons are not easily legal to own, but we got a lot of different animals instead. She also helped me with starting to make our own goth events, DJ, and help local promoters, and now we’re responsible for more than half of goth events that happen in our city. She’s now earning more that I do (and I work in IT), and I’m really happy how did everything turned out. We have no idea how did the rest of her familly end up, but we don’t really care.

We are kind of planning a wedding, with only witnesses, but so far what’s stopping is that I can’t find my birth certificate, and that it looks like it’s not possible for both of us to have both surnames (the options are one of us keeps theirs, and the other get’s both, or we choose one only, and we both want to have both), so we kind of didn’t want to bother with it for a while.

“Insane asylum”, you know what i mean.

Although we are not formally engaged, we’ve been in love for a long time. We met each other in middle school on the telegram group of a YouTuber. It’s been 10 years now

Dog 1 - followed me home while walking late at night with who I thought would be my forever person

Dog 2 - gifted by who I thought would be my forever person after talking about starting a family

Dog 3 - daughter to Dog 2…little rascal started his own family

On Mondays my daughter visits and she noticed how many cats there are in my street so she started bringing cat treats. Now I have a rotation of about eight cats that regularly greet me as I leave or arrive. They know my car and the sound of the front door. It’s added a surprising amount of joy to my life.

My friend who was getting married did a friends thanksgiving every year back then. His partner had a friend from school she was dedicated to finding someone for her. We met at the party and me being super shy and awkward back then made things very strange. She was interested though for some reason and we had our first date a week later and have been married for 13 years now.

At that time i was kind of old and very shy since my entire teens and early 20s i was rejected by everyone. You have no idea how much of an impact that has on yourself, but i was definitely depressed for a while until someone finally gave me a chance to breakout.

She moved in next door. We were both recently divorced. Been 6 years since and I do not know what I’d do without her.

I met my wife on IRC. She was attracted to the fact that I could spell. That was 25 years ago.

I was running a production line. There were different start times for the different parts of the line. The person who was supposed to be catching parts wasn’t at his post, and I’d knew him well enough to know he would be hassling some poor random woman who was just trying to do her job. So I went to the department where you would normally find such people, and there he was talking to some cute blonde woman with expressive eyebrows, adorable nose, and striking green and blue eyes. I told him to get lost. I apologized to the woman for him, and she turned out to be very talkative and friendly toward me. I went back to my area and spent all day trying to forget about her. I went back at the end of the day and asked for her email address.

We have been together for 18 years, married for 16. We have a kid and a small farm. She is the most amazing and caring person I’ve ever personally known and she is married to me.

I asked her once what got her attention that first time I met her. She said that I was the first person who ever stood up for her, the first person who ever stood between her and someone else and said “stop”.

At the front door of the church we would wind up getting married in.

I was in seminary. It was the start of my second year and in two weeks I would be spending all my Sundays at my assigned parish for “field education.” There was another parish that I enjoyed worshiping and a group of my fellow students were going to be there. So I took the Metro in, wound up walking in the wrong direction, after turning around I see this very pretty girl across the way as I waited for the cross-walk signal. I cross and wind up walking behind her.

I didn’t want to come across as a creep, so I gave her some distance. I assumed she was a grad student at the nearby university heading toward her place. But I saw her go for one of the doors to the church, which didn’t budge (apparently it was broken). Having been to the church before AND assuming that no cute girl my age would be a parishioner AND the general complexities of being a man prone to explaining things, I said “there’s another door over here.”

Stifling her urge to snarkily say “I know” she followed me in. We were both several minutes late. The choir was well into their infamous seven minute rendition of the Gloria. The pew in which my friends were positioned was full. So I was looking around. I happened to catch the girl’s eye again and she gestured that I could sit with her. So I did and we awkwardly communicated various things until the end of the service. After the service we made small talk as we moved toward the clergy at the door and the requisite coffee following. Learned that we were both from the same state originally. She learned that I was in seminary (she had also assumed that I was a university student). She was lovely and smart and I was completely smitten. There was an obvious click for both of us.

And then I left. I said goodbye and that it was lovely to meet her. I did not ask her number. I only knew her first name. I did not want her thinking that I was only at church to troll for women. I figured that I would meet her again.

I called my mom. I said “I met my wife today.” She asked if I had asked her for a date or anything. Nope.

Turned out that the following week a good friend of mine would be preaching at the same church. All of my friends told me I had to go back and see about this girl. Once I started field education I’d probably never see her again. So I did. And we closed out the post-church coffee time. We exchanged numbers. Went on our first date and wound up kissing in the shadow of the Lincoln Memorial while “Taps” played softly on the air from Arlington.

Just shy of two years later we were married in that same church. We took photos in the pew where we first sat. It’s been fifteen years and four kids later and I still thank God for turning the wrong direction out of that Metro station.