Hey, Steemers! This is the third part in a short series that my husband @expatlove wrote on his move from South Florida to the Philippines.
Priceless
In times past, anyone desirous of dating had fewer options than we do today. Technological advancement has allowed for various means of communication with people from all around the world, and this has had positive ramifications with regard to such things as business, education, and yes, love. Whereas a person's dating prospects may have been much more limited to local pools of men and women in the past, it is today possible to interact with a person "face-to-face" via video chat. There are limitations to digital communication, but it remains that options have increased.
Initially, the only means I utilized for finding a potential partner online was, hilariously, Facebook. Trying to find a suitable partner on Facebook was sort of like attempting to throw a dart at a dartboard in the dark while drinking whiskey. (Have you ever tried it?) I didn’t join any Facebook groups, but with a good cigar on hand, and by means of the search bar and some witty humor, I did talk to more than a few attractive women. Three of them remain friends with me to this day and one of them served as an incentive to visit Mexico. (It’s a beautiful country, by the way, and it’s got some great tequila!) Not everyone online is a creepy stalker or a person pretending to be someone they're not.
Shortly after dating (or, at least trying to date) via Facebook, it was clear that I needed a better way to find what I was looking for. Due to effective advertising, various online dating websites came to memory--eHarmony and Match.com, for example--but the thought of joining one of them wasn't very enticing. As it was, paying for membership to a dating website was out of the question, mainly because of pride. I thought, "Why pay to meet women? That's lame." And it is. At least, I think it is.
Still, briefly, a paid membership almost went from being an undesired possibility to a reality. Anyone who searches for dating websites quickly finds a plethora of Christian sites geared toward the purpose of finding a significant other. One of these seemed appealing, and as a Reformed(ish) and Calvinistic type of Christian, I almost became a paid member of it. This was due to my Christian faith and all of the characteristics that make me unique, in keeping with which I wanted to find a fun, loving, compatible Christian to do life with. Moreover, she had to be stunningly beautiful. Picky as always, all of the peculiarities desired in a prospective lady-friend briefly made a paid membership to a niche website seem like a practical, viable option.
Needless to say, it wasn't actualized. True to my general sentiments regarding paid memberships, I decided to take the free route, and the only way to go about it was full speed – pedal to the metal. The ride was quite fun. On a completely free-to-use website dedicated to Asian dating, an engaging profile was quickly set up, and much to my own delight, there appeared to be lots of ladies to interact with. In fact, there were, and one of them was a woman who now surpasses my expectations for a partner every single day that we spend with each other. She’s my mahal (mahal is the Tagalog word for love), or, as we say it in Spanish, mi amor.
Her name is Marilyn, and a paid membership to a niche website would have been worth it a million times over in order to meet her. It's good that it wasn't necessary, but it's truly an understatement to say that she's incredible. For you Spanish-speakers out there, ella es mi reina, mi belleza, la cosa mas sexy del mundo, y su sonrisa me vuelve loco. I’m “whipped,” as they say, but who can blame me? She's hot, and as far as personality, love, and devotion are concerned, she's truly in a class of her own. With a baby now on the way and a place we happily call home together, how we developed what we have is a story of its own.