How did you meet your SO? (Significant Other)
The short story:
We were set up by an amateur 'matchmaker'.
Using subterfuge, she tricked us into being in the same place at the same time in a social situation (drinks).
She was a mutual friend, but we'd never laid eyes on each other before.
We were married in less than a year.
That was April 21,1969.
A daughter and two grandchildren later, we're still together.
And still happy about it.
= new reply since forum marked as read
...in an effort to buy a motorbike I'd located, and ride it back home. In November, in the Rocky Mountains. Had a bunch of cash, a helmet, and a duffle bag full of warm clothes.
Hadn't laid eyes on the bike, so as a "backup plan" the future Mrs. Robb had offered to meet me at the owner's garage, give me a lift as far as the interstate should the deal not go through.
Bought the bike. Followed her back to her neighborhood for a celebratory dinner. Stayed in town for a few days. Rode bike back. And forth. And back. And forth.
Married six months later. Motorbike long since sold. Daughter about to turn three.
We've been married 27 years this year and have started planning and
saving for our 30th. . It will coincide with our daughter's
graduation from college and our son's graduation from HS. Cruise?
Trip to California or Hawaii or The FL Keys? Don't know.
Current SO took a check from me for said substances. 
because the charmers in my past had an influence on my first impressions of my husband-to-be.
We worked at the same large company in different departments, but our jobs required us to interact on the phone. Completing my tasks depended on information from his department.
He was a new employee who had come to my office several times with a group of his co-workers. He wasn't as boisterous as the other guys & I had noticed that he blushed whenever I spoke to him.
Yet he came across in a blunt manner whenever I talked to him on the phone.
As incredible as it sounds, I found his bluntness & lack of charm refreshing. What you saw is what you got.
I'd call him on the phone for the input I needed & he'd say, "We're still working on it". Click. No goodbye.
Timely results were essential, but I wasn't used to that cold treatment, either, so I called him again with a lame question just to size him up again. He gave me the same attitude but with just a hint of flirtation in his voice, & when I asked him again about the results I needed, he told me he couldn't get it done if I kept calling him, so "stop calling!"
Hmm, I thought. 
I picked up the phone & called him with another aggravating question. And to flirt.
Soon after, the three-day Labor Day weekend came up & I took that Monday off. On Tuesday, he called me at work & asked me where I'd been the day before. He had missed interacting with me on the phone & asked me for my home number.
He did call me at home & the first thing he said was, "I just wanted to see if you gave me the right number." We talked until early the next morning, found out that we had a lot in common, & we were a couple from that point on.
Who was a real jerk, btw.
(before it was bought out, by Fox, I think) because we were wanting to get free signed copies of a favorite spiritual author's first work of fiction. I know we met on the author's page (and comments) for the book-giveaway, and started emailing after that.
It's also a long-distance relationship. I live in Texas. She lives in New Zealand. I visited there in 2009, and hope to pay her way to visit me sometime this summer (yeah, summer in Houston, for someone that doesn't know what it's like for 35-40C days, weeks on end 
)
Now, my first SO I also met online and we remained married for seven years, seven months. And it was also a spiritual (new age) message board. It doesn't exist anymore, but as I recall, it was operated out of Switzerland. She was also from Canada.
I seem to have a thing for foreign ladies 
25 years from now. 
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... while she was on a blind date. The date was horrible. The guy's sergeant had fixed him up with her and told him
some places to go (and some to avoid) and asked if he had enough money.
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The doofus took her to one of the places "not to go" (where, naturally... I was) and had not had enough money to
pay for a fraction of the cost of the dinner he took her out for (she was able to cover it).
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We didn't hook up that night, but made arrangements to meet the next evening. Married in less than a year.
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An unfortunate, yet GLORIOUS mistake.
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The one I think of as "the one that got away"? My boss' wife wanted to fix me up with her best friend (who I had
never met nor seen) -- thought we'd get along fantastically. She finally stopped by the local rural bar near my
boss' wife and I at their Halloween party on her way to a private party.
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She was dressed as a devil -- bright red catsuit (and she was MADE for a catsuit). horns, pitchfork... the works.
I was dressed as a full-body papier-mache-and-chicken wire lifelike 7-foot penis (my normal costume for about
10 years... and one in which I NEVER lost a costume contest until I moved to Arizona -- you shoulda SEEN the
special effects).
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Later, the wife asked us both separately what we thought of each other.
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I thought she was HOT, sweet, bright, witty, interesting, etc., etc., etc.
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She thought I "was a bit much".
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Didn't happen -- 'til the wife set us up about three months later at a live rock-n-roll club in town. For whatever
reason, we BOTH hit it off that time. My boss and I went to the (very crowded) bathroom at the same time and,
when we were standing side-by-side at two urinals, told me that he thought "if you play your cards right, I know
someone who's going to come back to my house tonight for some wild animal sex".
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You coulda heard a pin drop. 
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But he was right -- and we were together about 4 years until she told me it was time to make a commitment
decision and I wasn't smart enough (STUPID STUPID STUPID) to realize that she was, indeed "The One".
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In the 1970s, there was a lively folk music scene in what was then West Berlin. Young people used to
gravitate to West Berlin in those days, and an American friend who had been stationed there (spying
on the Soviet Air Force, but that's another story) gave me some addresses. I was there for a week in
1973, had a lot of fun, decided to go back in the summer of 1974.
So, after graduating college in May 1974, I headed back over to West Berlin. After a few one night stands,
a girl I had met a few days before, announced that she was taking off for China the next day, but she
thought I should meet her girlfriend from the northwest of Germany. It was dark and smoky, and couldn't
see who she was talking about. She leaned back, and this tall blonde angel materialized before my eyes.
She thought it was just a fun summer affair. I thought it was fate telling me, Here is what you have been
looking for all your life. Do you want this or don't you? I did. I spent Christmas with her and her parents
in the far northwest of Germany. Her parents spoke no English (my German was passable, and getting a
LOT better). Next summer, she visited America for the first time, and met my parents. After that, it was
just a question of logistics. She continued with her studies in social work, and I was recruited by my outfit
in the summer of 1975. Young guys who spoke German, Russian, French and Spanish were in particular
demand that year or something. I said that I would take the position on the condition that I could visit my
new girlfriend in Germany on occasion. They said combine it with work, and it was a deal.
Then, in late 1981, my brother, who had been stationed in Japan, called me up to ask if I wanted to be best
man at his wedding. He had met his wife to be in Japan, and they were getting married so she could remain
in the States with him, as he was being transferred back to Washington. I said sure, and I would call up my
GF in Germany to see if she could make it too. He said, well, if you're both gonna be there, we might as well
make it a double. No arrangements!!!! I called Germany and related what my brother had suggested. My
wife-to-be said the German equivalent of "sure, works for me." Not the most romantic proposal, but we had
been together for over seven years by then, so what's a piece of paper?
The double wedding was held in Washington--neutral ground, considering the Germans and Japanese present.
That was thirty years ago.
1981, seven years after meeting, and a year before our wedding:
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1982: the fateful day:
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2011, on Cape Cod, Massachusetts:
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And our daughters, who will carry on when we're outta here:
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The ride may have been bumpy at times (cancer, heart issues, logistics), but I couldn't have,
wouldn't have done it with anyone else. We met 38 years ago this year. It's a long way
from age 22 to age 60, believe me!!!!!!!!!!
<rim shot> I will be here all week folks. Be sure to tip your waitresses.
and I asked that friend to invite him to a party in our apartment complex that weekend. We've been together ever since. Our 37th wedding anniversary is on March 22 .
