'The man who was too old for me.'

Very early on in my quest to find someone on line, I would receive emails on the sight I had joined from a man who was a lot older then myself.  I would tell him that while it was nice that he was interested in me I told him he was just much older than I was looking for. 
My bio had said I was looking for someone between 50 and 60.  He understood but asked if he could just check in every once in a while just to see how I was doing.  I told him of “course, a person can't have too many friends."

Therefore, about once a month, I would get an email from him just asking me how I was doing and that he thought of me often.  He never bothered me or asked inappropriate questions or anything else, very much a gentleman. 

I asked him if he had a picture of himself and he told me he did not have a camera but could borrow friends. 
By the way, normally my policy is that if you did not have a recent picture of yourself I was not going to respond.  Truly, I could care less what a person looks like but apparently, I am the exception to that rule. 
Only reason I wanted a current pic was to see whom I was emailing. 

He finally put a picture up and it was a side view and he was old that was for sure, but he was not ugly and he was not good looking either, the only thing that came to mind was old. 

The months and years ticked by, men came and went.  Each month he emailed me and we got to know each other a lot better.  We were phoning each other and the age problem was not becoming a problem anymore. 

In 2006, I was diagnosed with cancer.  They found a lump under my right ear (lymphoma) and it was malignant.  They did surgery and took off half the right side of my face and I looked like a freak! 
I said goodbye to everyone I was talking with because if this was serious I was not going to have anyone that cared about me still around.  I was told that my face would grow back in and I thought "Oh please!  You think I believe that?  A face doesn't grow back in; I am going to look like this for the rest of my life!"

Everyone went by my wishes, EXCEPT the man I had been talking with for years.  He was not accepting that and he told me he wanted to come down and be with me during this difficult time.  I told him "no way!  I look horrible, just horrible!”  The only person I wanted to see me was my roommate, she had come back from San Diego to care for me and I felt bad about that as it was! 
He was very hurt and said, “if you love someone then you want to go through the good and the bad together."  I cried!  This man, who never met me...loved me, he never gave up on me, would never take no for an answer. 

The surgery was in October of 2006 and after that, I had six weeks of radiation.  He wanted to visit so badly.  He said, "Look, if you do not like me or do not think we have a future together, I will accept that.  I want to be with you and let you know I will never give up on you."  Therefore, talking with my roommate I decided to invite him to Thanksgiving dinner.         
By the way, my face actually had started filling in, I still was hideous looking but not as bad as I was at first. 

I was so nervous to meet him but he finally pulled up in his truck.  As I went outside to meet him, he gave me a great big bear hug and was genuinely so happy to see me. 
He was not much to look at; in fact, he looked just like the cartoon character "Homer Simpson."  That is ok though, because I look like "Jiminy Cricket" the old Walt Disney character so we were perfect for each other. 

Anyway, he told me I was beautiful and you could tell he meant every word of it.  He could not stop looking at me actually, and it was very unnerving!

We hit it off immediately and for the rest of the day it was just pretty much the two of us even though there were ten other people there. 
A year later, we moved in together, and then on Aug 2, 2008 we were married.  At the time, I was 55 and he was 64.  We are very happy and this man, this man that I met on line adores me. 
This man thinks I am beautiful without my teeth in, without my makeup on. 
With just sweats on, with my indention in my face. 
This man looks into my eyes and says, "You are so beautiful, you take my breath away."  We are very happy. 

Update: 10/2012:  My husband has been diagnosed with leukemia but we are taking each day one at a time.  We continue to love each other and find humor in every moment.