Luella and I had known each other over the internet for years before we met in person - participating in many of the same forums, exchanging several hundred emails and IM's, and eventually becoming partners for The Best Years in Life website.  So well did we come to know one another and support one another that I considered Lu to be my very best friend and a true angel flying close to the ground.  Ultimately, we decided to join forces under the same roof as friends and partners at the very least and perhaps - and hopefully - something more than that once we got to know each other in person.

I was a bit fearful that once Lu was around me in person for any length of time the myth of  "DQ" would come apart with the obvious fact that I am far from perfect, far from all knowing, and likely less than idyllic to live around at times.  Likely, she had similar fears about herself.  However, what I found was that, if anything, Lu was even more precious in person than she was over the net.  Fortunately for me, she continued to pretty much worship the ground I walked on and still does (look at all the ratings I get here in this forum, for example).  No matter how much I insist that she recognize my fallabilities, she pretty much refuses to do so - and thus I get away with quite a few otherwise ruh-roh's.

And then there is this:  Besides pretty much worshiping this false idol, Luella is madly in love with me and has been from the start.  As for myself, I have loved Lu for a long time, but it took me awhile to realize and admit that I was also IN LOVE with her.  So much so, that she has become an irreplaceable part of me that I cannot imagine living and loving without.  Why did the obvious not become plain sooner?  In great part because I had years of building up barriers to ever making myself vulnerable to the pain that love can bring and I was very reluctant to climb back out on that precarious limb and have it cut out from underneath me again, taking another piece of my heart with it.  Yes, I had been there and done that and knew every damned branch that hit me on the way down and had the scars to show it.

Then one day, I realized that every vision I had of my future had Lu in it.  In fact, I could scarcely imagine a future without her.  And so here I am today:  loving and living with a joy I never expected to have.  And so much better than I would have been had I not met and fallen in love with my Lu.

If you wonder why I am posting this message here, it is because not only do I want to tell Lu and everyone else how I feel and my joy for having her in my life, but also to use my story to tell others that life is so infinitely better when you have someone to love and enjoy life with.  No matter what your age may be, when you have true love the future always shines brighter.

Folks, don't limit your lives by being afraid of love and, if you do find your special love, never take it for granted. True love is a rare and exceedingly precious thing.  Sadly, some may never find it and that is especially sad if they might have been able to do so if only they had been willing to go back out on that limb one more time.  Sadder still is finding true love and then taking it for granted and letting it drift away as you and your partner drift apart.  The wondrous flame of love needs constant tending.

These excerpted Biblical verses can be interpreted in different ways, but to me they perfectly illustrate the importance of love:

Now, I may still be a clanging bell a lot of the time, but not when it comes to love - thanks to Lu, who continues to worship and love me and somehow still pretty much thinks I am perfect.  (Please folks, don't tell her the truth!)

Far from perfect as I am, I am so much better in so many ways for Lu coming into my life.  And so this this song goes out to Lu.  Among so very many songs about loving a woman, this one is about as close as it gets for me: