Valentine Angels

Straight from heaven—with love

It’s a Small World

What am I doing? I asked myself as I sat in front of my laptop looking at a stranger’s profile—on a dating site of all things. My husband and I had divorced after a long marriage; we had grown children; and I hadn’t dated since I was a teenager. It wasn’t just introducing myself to someone online that was new to me. Everything about this was foreign.

My fingers hovered over the “send” button. Lord, I thought, if you think I should really get to know this man, give me a sign. Before I lost my nerve, I sent my introduction. I got a response a few hours later. We started messaging back and forth, and when I was comfortable with our online friendship, we exchanged numbers and moved to chatting over the phone. His name was Jay, and he had a soothing voice that put me at ease.

“Have you lived in the area long?” Jay asked in our length­iest conversation yet.

“Oh, yes. My daughter went to St. John’s,” I said.

“Small world! My niece, Carla, went there too,” he replied. I caught my breath. One of my daughter’s best friends from school was named Carla. Her mother, Kat, and I were close when our girls were little. “By any chance, is your niece’s mother named Kat?”

“Actually, it is!” Jay said. “Kat is my sister.”

That was all the sign I needed. Jay and I immediately sched­ uled our first date to meet at the park, and it was the begin­ ning of something new and beautiful.

GEN WAKELY, GRISWOLD, CONNECTICUT

Family Man