Tinderella Story

I have been more than slightly saddened to hear many a folk out there say that the time of the 'Tinderella Story' is over and that online dating has gone back to DTF status. 

Having been an ever positive user of dating apps, I know that those shizes can be cyclical. In that you would have a few real dream run months and a few real depressing runs of it. What that taught me though was to ride the high of the good months, take a hiatus / try a different app for the bad months, it can't always be rainbows and butterflies, right? 

As a Tinderella story myself, I feel it my duty to share other stories of uplifting love finding across the interwebs. The one I share today comes off the back of a Project story earlier in the week about a couple who met online and shared their totally worthy story on television, I was so happy they did!

The reason I loved this story so much is because of the MANY facets of a complex relationship that bought these two together. Laura and Jim met online and went on a date. Laura and Jim didn't hit it off right away, in fact Laura told her flat mate he had creepy eyes. They had befriended each other on social media and months after their date, Laura saw through her feed that Jim was involved in a very bad accident while overseas, which saw his treatment and road to recovery span two countries and much courage from Jim.

Laura thought Jim could use a friend, these types of accidents, his leaving him wheelchair bound and in intense physical therapy to try to walk again, can leave people feeling alone and scared. Laura reached out to Jim and turned up to his house with hamburgers and ready to chat. From there they saw each other regularly and thus blossomed a beautiful friendship. As their friendship blossomed so did the feels and pretty soon Jim and Laura were in this for the long haul and are now newlyweds. Jim continues his recovery with Laura by his side, creepy eyes and all.

There are obviously so many things to love about this story but none more so to me than people meeting, not really feeling it, connecting again and falling in love. I write a lot about timing be everything on this blog and this is the most extreme example of timing being absolutely everything for these two people. I love that Jim's courage and strength during this awful time in his life is what keeps Laura so in love with him, that they found a common ground and an organic love through just taking the time to get to know each other. Also proving hamburgers truly are wonders of the world in curing hangovers and also uniting people.

I also loved that the feels didn't happen to them right away. First dates can be awkward AF. There are awkward silences, random conversations, it can be so stressful. But if you happen to be on a date and you think, yeah, that was nice and fun, no big fireworks but I would totally do that again. Sometimes in life you just have to take a shot and see if something more lies ahead in date two or three. Don't flog a dead horse, but for sure give things a decent amount of time before you pull the plug.

The love of my life hit me hard, I knew within a month of knowing the B&C that I wanted to be his wife. But I have also known so many loving and wonderful couples that started as friends, or hung out in the same crowds or knew each other through work and one day that flick switched and it was all different.

I am always in awe of people who meet people through IRL situations, but as you get older that shiz becomes way more difficult. The time you spend out you want to cherish with your friends, not scouting for chicks/dudes and the other time you have gets swept up in this weird world of personal errands and binge watching Netflix series. In my twenties I could smash out a school night date 4 times a week, see friends, cause general havoc, in your 30s it's all about making life efficient. So for me having apps that at least streamlined the process of meeting people worked for me.

I want to believe the Tinderella story is living large. Please, please comment here and get in touch if you want to share your story, I would love to interview you!