It seems all too magical that the success stories of 25dates.com would include my very own. If I had known in February of 2002, when my business partner and I started this company, that one day I would meet my own partner this way, I wouldn't have believed it. My mind was focused on creating a good company and bringing others together. But here is our story.
Aaron and I met in January of 2006. I was doing what I do several nights each week, hosting one of our speed-dating events, which we had started more than 3 years earlier. We had one extra man that night, and when Aaron was without a "date", I went over to let him know he had a 3 minute break (each date is 3 minutes long). We talked for the 3 minutes. At the end of the night I asked him how things went and he said they went great but he was missing one thing. That one thing ended up being my phone number and he had written my name on his match card and asked me for it. I had to say yes. We went on our first date 2 days later and I knew after our first date that he was the one. I didn't know whether that was possible any more and don't think it always happens like that, but it did for us.
Our romance has been all that I could have dreamed of. We took things very slowly. It was like he knew my pace and I knew his intrinsically. We got to know each other well and the more I knew about him, the happier I was as he really was everything I had hoped he was. He is sensitive and kind. He is extremely attentive and playful and considerate. He is strong and confident and smart. He is very sexy to me and he is a lot of fun. He has a sense of adventure and wonderment. He is able to be vulnerable with me. He is assertive and is not afraid of me being that as well.
Ten months after we met, we moved in together. I was nervous about it, but he helped me through it by being understanding and making it fun. Each morning now he makes us breakfast and wakes me up so I can have breakfast with him, and even though I don't start work until much later, I can't resist.
My cat (her name is Little Girl) has adopted him as her own. Sometimes I will wake up as he is making breakfast downstairs and hear them meowing at each other and it makes me laugh every time. He says she needs to know that someone else speaks her language, and she seems to have understood that, as she has never bossed anyone around quite as much. She waits at the top of the stairs when he comes home from work.
When Aaron is at work he sends me an e-mail or will make a quick call just to hear my voice and to tell me he loves me and that he misses me. He leaves a love note each day for me on the kitchen counter. He appreciates the things I do for him and is sure to let me know. He brings me a rose a few times a month. He took half the day off work to hold my hand when I went to get my blood taken (a major phobia of mine). He is starting to learn Dutch (!) - my native tongue.
He loves all the traditional festivities and loves to do the romantic things like picking our own pumpkin and apples, and sawing down our own Christmas tree and decorating it.
He tries to convince me that winter is a great season and because of him I went out last year and skated and cross-country skied. Every moment we have together we hang out; we just love each other's company.
On September 22nd, a couple of days before my Birthday, Aaron took me to the African Lion Safari (which he knew I would enjoy, having spent a lot of my childhood in Africa) where we went to see the animals and where we had a sushi lunch that he had brought for me as a surprise. Afterwards we went for a walk along this trail we have run on together. Without getting into every detail, as some things remain private, he ended up asking me to marry him. Of course I said yes.
Aaron and I have an energy around us when we are together. We lift each other up. We are true friends. I have found someone with whom I do want to spend the rest of time. Almost 2 years after first having met each other, we are as crazy about each other as ever. I feel like the luckiest woman in the world to have been blessed with so much goodness in so many ways.
...Update from Aaron
...and I feel just as blessed as Ragna... and maybe even more. How did I meet this fantastic woman? Could it be as simple and as easy as this: One late December night in 2005, I did a search on Google for dating services and 25dates.com came up? In a word, yes. I felt such a strong pull to attend that next event. It was as if I knew, that on January 10th, 2006, a special girl would be my lucky day...So at this point in our story, it is now December 4th, 2009, and a few things have happened since that paragraph above! I am proud to say that almost one year ago today, on December 14th, 2008, Ragna gave birth to our awe inspiring, gift from beyond; our little baby boy, Shane Stamm`ler-Adamson (and one more cutie got added to a long list of other souls that owe their lives to their parents meeting through 25dates.com).
He is our love manifested into a combined physical, spiritual and intellectual form; ready for life, love and adventure. We are just crazy about him. Shane, aka Snookie, is such a happy, strong, inquisitive, sensitive, friendly, funny and outgoing baby. He illuminates the world around him with his infectious smile and joi de vivre. I am a proud father and deeply happy to know that he has a mother in Ragna, who, on a daily basis, provides him with a powerful love, strength and devotion. These are the same attributes that I am the recipient of, so I know how lucky he is.
This past summer, 2009, we took our love train on a plane and descended upon one of my strongest places of inspiration - the Rocky Mountains of Alberta, Canada. We explored our bond in these surreal surroundings as I introduced Ragna and baby Snookie to the high alpine trails that I traversed 20 to 30 years before. We swapped stories, shared love, and I watched in amazement as Ragna fed our baby against backdrops of glaciers, mountain peaks and turquoise lakes.
Yes, one night at 25dates lead to all this...and more...
On Saturday, the twelfth of September, 2009, that little Snookie invited a group of 40 or so people to attend the wedding of his parents. Yes, I got to marry this wonderful Dutch woman! It was a beautiful ceremony. It was a fantastic sunny day. Ragna looked ravishingly beautiful as usual and I was beaming with pride. There was lots of love in the air, as there has been since the day I met my lovely wife.
Ragna is sexy, loving, caring, funny, joyous and tender. She is strong, supportive and confident too which I really admire. She not only lets me be me, but she helps me to be, a better me. If I am needing to talk about anything, she will talk about it as long as I need to, no matter how long, without ever tiring. She is unwavering in her devotion and a profoundly beautiful person that I am very fortunate to share my time on this earth with. I feel as if we have known each other for much longer...perhaps from other lifetimes. Just tonight she asked me an obscure statistic she was thinking about and as is often the case, I knew it exactly. This kind of thought connection happens a lot with us and it always makes me think that we have a very deep connection that transcends our current time together.
After almost 4 years together, I love that we continue to write love notes to each other, every day. We are deeply attracted to each other and share an explosive chemistry that knows no bounds. You keep me coming back for more Ragna, and I can`t wait for....
(...back to you Ragna, to write our next chapter entry. As always, I can`t wait to see what you have to say and by the way, thanks for starting this company and not only changing my life and making Shane`s life possible, but on behalf of all of the thousands of people over the last 7 years that have found each other through your company...thanks :-)
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