My life of 48 years on this planet has been like the making of a crazy quilt comprised of many different shapes, sizes, colours and hues of experiences. But no event and no other person were able to trim away the rough edges and replace them with a rich satin border until I met Marty.

We had both been through difficult lifetimes where our feelings and desires were, at best, placed on the back burner. In fact, more often than not, our lives were lived primarily fulfiling the wants and needs of others. While important life lessons were learned from this, by the same token some emotional damage was done and we had never truly learned the lessons of joy and happiness.

Marty and I came to the same realisation at the same time. We were both ready to start a new life, hopefully with another

person, but didn’t really know how to begin meeting people. Individually our friends gently but firmly prodded us into

registering with a dating program offered through a local radio station.

After some time passed and I hadn’t had much success in meeting anyone in whom I was particularly interested, I had virtually given up on the process. However, on New Year’s Day after returning home from being out-of-town for several days during the holidays, the little voice inside of me said, “Why don’t you check to see if you have any messages through the dateline?” At first I resisted but the voice kept repeating, “You really should check”, so I decided to listen to this little voice. I discovered that not only had the computer suggested I might be interested in this particular person named Marty, but Marty himself had actually listened to my profile and left not one, but two, messages for me expressing his interest in me and his desire for me to contact him.

I called, we talked for over an hour, and made plans to meet the next day at a local bookstore for coffee and conversation. After the preliminaries of the initial meeting (from which we both almost walked away because we were very nervous), and getting our coffee, we settled into a long and flowing conversation that probably lasted for hours although we lost all track of time. Within the first fifteen minutes I found myself looking in the most beautifully clear hazel eyes I had ever seen, and interacting with one of the most beautiful souls I had ever encountered on this Earth. After listening to him speak my very own thoughts and feelings, I knew this was someone I had been waiting for all my life. I recognised qualities about him that some of my best friends possess and the thought crossed my mind that, if nothing else, I would want him in my life as one of my friends.

We both recognised the powerful connection between us, but neither of us realised at the time the true power and intensity this connection would have on our lives. After getting together on two other occasions, we have managed to spend practically every spare minute we have together basking in the glow of the love and affection we have for each other. This is not always easy due to our living 30 miles apart from each other, other commitments and busy, full-time jobs, but the high vibrations generated just by the touch of our hands is worth whatever it takes to be together.

We are beginning to create a beautiful and intricate ballet in which we can both be equal partners in the dance — supporting each other when we need to, coming together and moving apart, but always connected.

Soulmate seems a trite and overused word these days, but if Marty and I are anything, we are true soulmates.

The music will never stop and the dance will never end because we truly love each other — through all space and time — connected to each other now and forever. — Rhonda Elliott