A love story:
Trisha Lewis

It all started in 2002...

when we found each other - Steve and I.

We found each other with the help of a dating site and a cafe called 'Rickys'.

We were both on the site - but hadn't sent messages.

Why?

For me it was because he was rock climbing in his photo - and for him it was that I had '3 plus' children.

These instant reactions nearly stopped our love story before it even started.

I had been honest with the drop down option on the site - the only choices were 1/2 or 3 plus children - I had 3. '3 plus' made him think I had a school-full!

I had associated his rock climbing with: 'being like a cyclist who goes off every weekend clad in Lycra and I never see him.'

Enter the cafe.

I was living in Swanage and used to go to this cafe with a friend - and Steve used to have a cooked breakfast in the cafe with his friend - before they set off to the Purbecks for a day of climbing.

I was chatting with my friend and have to confess I never noticed Steve!

Steve spotted me, however, and recognised me from the dating site.

That evening a message popped up in my dating site inbox - from Steve.

'Believe it or not - I think I saw you this morning in Swanage in the cafe.'

He had broken through the 'too many kids' fear - and I then broke through my 'climber/cyclist' fear. We were just two people talking - connecting.

Our first date led to the second - and with no 'blind rushing' we proceeded...

This photo was taken 2 years later during one of many glorious city breaks.

But - what you don't see in a photo is the journey before and after the snapped moment in time.

I was still a work in progress. Whilst partly healed by my 'nice' second marriage, I was still nursing deep wounds from my first marriage to an abusive narcissist.

Moving forward from the Paris trip to present day?

This man has been a patient, nurturing, enriching presence. Here in our mid 60's, we laugh, we share, we understand and feel understood.

We still fancy each other too!

I had to learn what love between adults felt like. I had to believe in that love, rather than defensively hold it at arm's length.

'What would I be without him - he's my everything..' - NO - I am not going to say that - not even for Valentines Day!

I will simply say -

'I got to be all me - with him'. 'He got to be all him - with me.' 'We created a really life-enriching story - together.'

Neither the cafe nor the dating site exist now - but we are as solid as the Eiffel Tower! (And if it collapses after writing this story - we are even stronger!)

Life is a journey. Stay curious. Create good stories.