That time I almost rejected the man I’m with today
In my backyard last week
Amit and I have been together for three wonderful years as of this summer. We are highly compatible, have lots of fun together and he is one of the kindest people I know. I count myself very lucky to have met him after having swiped left on the dating apps thousands of times.
But I almost let him go.
When we first matched on Tinder, we exchanged a few cursory texts before setting up a phone call. It was a particularly busy work period for me and I put the time of the call in my calendar. The time came and went. No phone call.
I didn’t take it personally. I’d had my fill of flakes after a year of online dating. I was stood up on my very first online date. There would be great texting conversations with guys who would suddenly disappear. Or guys who wanted to keep on talking and talking on the apps and would never set up a time to meet. I soon learned not to waste my energy on them.
And while I dated about 20 guys in all, none came close to what I was looking for. Someone I was attracted to. Someone who was lively and easy to be with. Someone who was honest and kind.
I decided I was going to hold out until I found that person. Or just stay single.
Amit messaged me the day after we were supposed to have connected.
“You free for a call?”
I texted him back: “Sorry, I thought you were going to call yesterday. Reliability is important to me.”
“I’m sorry,” he wrote.
“Thanks," I responded. “Good to luck to you.”
And that, I thought, was that.
But then he texted me the next day.
“I get the sense you might be the forgiving type. I’m going to be in Hamilton [my hometown] tomorrow. Could we meet for coffee?”
How could I prove him wrong and say no to that?
I put on a summer frock and walked to the coffee shop, Democracy on Locke Street. He was waiting outside.
My first impression? He was handsome and had a friendly smile.
“Oh,” I remember thinking. “This could be interesting.”
It was. It is. Thank goodness I gave him a second chance.
