mwelchdonovan17

Julester: It is closer to Milwaukee. Right off Interstate 94. I will be monitoring this every couple of days up to our luncheon date to see if I see any other takers.

Over 4 years ago I was conversing with this one guy. He was twice divorced, once widowed. He was older than I wanted to start a relationship with. But I thought what's the harm if we just chatted online? So that's what we did. In the morning before he went to work and at night when he came home. I was unemployed at the time. Then the question I had no idea would come up; when do we meet? I put it out of my mind (changed the subject). He told me he would be patient. I guess I wasn't ready? Eventually I accepted his invitation. I picked a venue far enough away from my home so that if it didn't work out I knew I wouldn't be venturing to that place again. After 3 hours of coffee and chatting, he asked me "where are we going from here?". OMG. I thought he meant after our date. He meant later that day. Mind you I had not been on a date like this since 1979. He suggested 3 different ideas. We agreed on a baseball game. We drove in separate vehicles. His daughter happened to have 2 extra tickets. We went. Not only did I meet his daughter but I also met his two grown grandchildren, some other family members and his FIRST ex-wife; mother of his children. After the game we went back to the bar where we left our vehicles. (we took the shuttle to the ballpark). He invited me to a garden party the following weekend a couple of his friends have every year. There I met some of his friends. A week after we met he met my daughter. I told her we had been chatting well over a month and met the preceeding weekend. We went to the restaurant where she works for dessert. I introduced her to him and she actually sat with us for a bit. When she told me she had to get back to work she got up, shook his hand and gave him a hug. I was a bit taken back. I guess she saw how happy I was. The smile I used to have had come back to my face. At this time of my life I was afraid I would not meet anyone. But this man and I are in a committed relationship. My family and friends are happy for me and they all like him. My oldest sister was a bit defensive about our relationship when I told him about his past marriages. But when she met him last year she leaned over to me and told me "he's a keeper". She has always been a good judge of character. We decided last year that he would move in with me and rent out his condo. Two years ago I got a PT job working in an insurance office. Just so happens my boss and the BF went to the same high school and they get along great. But then I went to high school with the boss's wife. The BF has retired and he is just waiting for me to retire. Our plans now are to sell both places, buy an RV along with a vehicle to tow it and travel the US. Boy has my life changed since my husband passed in February of 2007. If someone had told me this is where I would be 10 years later I would have told them they were nuts!!!

Christopher: when I started going to widowbagos I went to connect with other widows/ers. Finally able to put the names and faces together. Some of our gatherings were anywhere from 4 to over 30 people in attendance. I met some great amazing people and always looked forward to the next one. Some of the people I met at these dinners did start dating and even married. But if you think that people go to these get togethers to hook up you are sadly mistaken. For me that was the furthest thing from my mind. I myself met a great man over 4 years ago on an actual dating site and he has accompanied me to some of our widowbago dinners because he is also widowed. I have introduced him to some of the great men and women I met when I was going through the darkest period of my life. He even accompanied me to the wedding of a couple who met through one of our dinners. You may be putting your opinions/ideas out there without offending anyone but for some the words might have a different meaning. Especially when you are dealing with people in the various stages of grief. Don't take some of my comments wrong. It is not my intention on criticizing. Just an opinion and nothing more.

There are 6 of us in SE Wisconsin getting together for lunch September 16, 2017. If anyone is interested let me know here and I will be happy to list details.