I suspect this post won't age well but....

[HiddenSN]

....sometimes MN is a good outlet for things you don't want to say to your friends.

I went on a date at the end of 2020. Clear as day, I remember sitting across the table and thinking 'I could marry this guy'.

Not in the sense that I actually wanted to marry him. Just that, if the clock stopped and I had to choose someone I could see myself eating breakfast with every day, out of everyone I'd been on a date with recently, he'd be the one.

It was the strangest thing. I NEVER think like this. Everyone laughs at me because I'm usually such a skeptic when it comes to dating. I don't even know if I want to get married again and it's certainly not something I think about on a first date.

There was nothing that necessarily stood out between him and any other guy I'd dated. I had a great date but I don't recall any stand-out moments. It was fun but there was copious amounts of booze so that wasn't a huge surprise. I have no idea why I had that thought.

We had two more dates but they were just coffee and I don't remember having a strong feeling about them either way.

He then had to go back to his home country. I dated someone else and honestly he didn't cross my mind.

Fast forward to May and I was single again and we reconnected on a dating app.

Now coming up for 2.5 months since then and we've been dating ever since. It's by far the best dating experience I've had. I've never felt so comfortable with someone. I'm not an inherently romantic person and usually it takes a lot for me to be 'snuggly' with someone. Or if I do it (say, walking round holding hands), I feel totally ridiculous or awkward.

None of that in this case. It feels bloody fantastic. Everything just seems to work - intellectually, physically and emotionally.

Now, it's early days (and honestly, it was a toss-up between posting this and posting HELP I'M TERRIFIED OF GETTING FEELINGS FOR SOMEONE AND GETTING MY HEART BROKEN')....

But I decided to opt for this positive post in the hope I can revisit it in a year's time and smile.

Or, of course, I could be jinxing it, being utterly ridiculous or setting myself up for a huge disappointment.

But nonetheless I'm fascinated by that random fleeting thought on the first date that somehow instinctively told me there was some kind of connection there.

Sometimes things just happen for a reason, I'm a bit of a believer in fate.
I first saw my DH at a sport we were both involved in and knew he was the man I was going to marry before we'd even spoken. He wasn't my type, didn't speak English and I was already with someone. Completely ignored the feeling and for one reason or another stopped the sport.
We got back in touch two years later, luckily he spoke pretty good English by then 😂 anyway 10 years later we're happily married with a toddler.
The strange thing is it was pure fluke he was there the first night I saw him and considering he was originally from somewhere about 1000 miles away our lives are weirdly entwined....being at the same places but never meeting until that night.

Jeez. I felt like that when I met a big-haired weirdo wearing a too-small t-shirt the colour of mushy peas. Our twentieth wedding anniversary is tomorrow 💕

Sounds like gut instinct and fate have dated on the same day OP.

How goes it OP?!

@OrlandointheWilderness

How goes it OP?!

Still really fantastic thank you! Exciting times 😀

I met DH just three days before I moved in with my ex.

I remember thinking that I wished I was moving in with him instead. We kept in touch and just over two years later we had a very drunken conversation, met up a few days later and that was that. I knew from our first kiss I'd marry him (he says he knew from our second kiss).

Been together for 10 years now and he's the most wonderful man I've ever known.

Good for you op I hope it works out!

I've been through hell with my ex husband and I went on 4 or 5 dates on tinder that never went further

But then I met my now boyfriend about 8 weeks ago and honestly feel such a connection with him, instantly comfortable around him and see him as much as possible and he's told me he feels the same way. So excited for the future finally

Absolutely loving this thread!!

Never ever had this feeling about my exDH and always felt something was missing. I thought he was the gentle, caring, reliable "safe" type after dating a string of exciting arseholes. We grew to live each other and I thought we were happy....until Mr safe & dependable he a year long affair starting when our DS was born.

I've now been dating for 5 years and refuse to settle until I get this feeling!! Fed up with friends and family telling me it doesn't exist and I'm living in fantasy land. I'm refusing to settle until I get that instant feeling so this thread is giving me life.

Good luck OP 💕

How are things going @HiddenSN!?

Love this thread too.

The first time I ever saw my guy, something in me said ‘i’m going to marry him’ which was weird because he wasn’t my usual type AT ALL and didn’t know anything about him, it was my first day at work and he walked past me.

Been together 10 years and married for 5

Sometimes you just know.

Good luck OP, hope it works out for you.

@OrlandointheWilderness

How are things going *@HiddenSN*!?

Still fantastic thank you!!

My DH called his best friend after our first date and said "This is who I will marry". We were friends for two years after that and one night we went to dinner as friends and something changed for me. We were together from that moment. I only found out as DH Best Man had it in our wedding speech.

Aw I'm so pleased!! Mine too!

I have no story to offer, I am loving reading all of your positive stories. I am currently going through separation and this again confirms why I am doing what I am doing and to always follow your gut. It’s a really lovely read, thank you all 😊

Really enjoyed reading all the lovely stories.

I wish I would see the man I locked eyes with in Dulles International Airport again. It was one of those freaky connections.

Lovely thread, and yes, I know that feeling.

I can still remember the very first moment I met DH with absolute clarity despite it being nearly 30 years ago, and he can too. I can replay it in my mind and I can still see him, smell him and remember how I felt.

He had come for an interview where I worked and I opened the door to him and showed him through. It was fleeting and for most of it he was following me but I felt a strange sense of calm and a strong connection.

Both our circumstances were different and it was a few years before we got together which makes it strange that we both remember that moment. I don’t remember the first time I met anyone else that clearly.

My DH (second marriage for both of us) says he knew I was The One the first time he met me, but I think he's rewritten history because we were introduced by a girlfriend he adored and he was a wreck for ages after they split up. We stayed friends but almost everyone we knew, including my primary school age children and my FWB, spotted that we were a good match long before I did. Almost 20 years later, I admit that they were right.

I hope things work out well for you, OP. It definitely happens. There are some fantastic stories on this thread, and my own parents knew straight away that they belonged together and have been happily married for over 60 years.

Is it going ok OP!?

Ooo update us

@HiddenSN please update us!

Fabulous thread.

My love life has been a disaster. I have two failed marriages underneath my belt. Clearly, love isn't meant for me. However, I LOVE stories like these. I teased the hell out of my brother when he told his date 'I love you' over their first lunch. They were together for 24 years. And it was the only thing that made me smile, telling that story at my brother's funeral while looking at his wife. It was incredibly healing... a very loving moment. When it is written, it's written.

Loved reading all these stories as some one OLD it's lovely to hear there is love out there. Hopefully one day I'll have a story to add!

Oh I love this!!
Please read - you experienced this (ii think).

www.bbc.com/culture/article/20180103-the-untranslatable-japanese-phrase-that-predicts-love