Engaged!!

Soooo....yes, I'm engaged!!  So many of you have wished me well and also many of you have expressed some mild concern over the "sudden" engagement.  Its actually not sudden, but it does seem soon.  I get it. It DOES seem soon.....and yet it doesn't.  In my last post, I explained how all this came about.  Donn and I spent September through December just being friends....occasionally going out, but mostly texting and talking on the phone....getting to know each other .  The last thing I wanted to do was to start to seriously date someone that I didn't think was going to work out.  I wanted to make sure before we actually really started dating that this was something (and someone) I wanted to pursue.  I didn't want to lead him on at all and I didn't want to hurt him.  By the time we really, really started the "dating" process, we knew each other pretty well and knew we wanted to see if this was really going to work.  And I have to admit, it was very, very strange at first to hold hands with someone that wasn't Barry,  But, after a LOT of prayer and thought, it all started to feel okay.  Better than okay, it felt GOOD.  Donn has told me that he loved me from the very start and knew I was the one for him long before I knew it.  I was the one holding him off.....telling him to take it slow.  But by the time things really started going, I knew he was the one God had planned for me.  It's been very obvious.  I prayed that if this was NOT the one for me, to stop my feelings for him....to throw a huge obstacle in my path, to make it very obvious that this needed to stop immediately.  Nothing like that happened....in fact my love for him grew stronger.  He treats me like gold, wants nothing more than to make me happy, and vice versa.   Yes, we are in the "honeymoon" phase of our relationship.  Everything feels wonderful and good.  Yes, things will come up and yes, I will irritate the bejeebers out of him at some point and he will do the same to me.  But here is how I feel about all of this:  If you commit to someone, these things will work themselves out.  You don't "try on" the relationship by living together for awhile to see if it's going to work.  You either commit or you don't.  EVERY relationship has its ups and downs.  Everybody irritates each other every once in awhile.  But you work through it.  Barry had a problem with alcohol as many of you know.  Thankfully, he chose his family over alcohol ....and the bottom line is we worked it out.  I once asked Barry why we were still married in the heat of a rather ugly argument and he stated, "Because I promised".  And there it was, as simple as that.  We promised each other and we each honored that promise.
  At this stage of the game in my life, after everything that has happened, it feels so good to share some good news.  Donn and I both know that life is uncertain and we intend to grab as much joy out our lives as we can at the moment.   We both know for certain that we love each other and want to be together.  Things are falling into place and my family likes him as does my friends.  Its been 2 plus years since I lost my precious Barry.  We will never forget that man.  And those of you who have expressed concern, thank you.  I know you all do it out of love for me.  I have so many wonderful friends and family and you all are just looking out for me.....making sure I don't do anything stupid.  But I don't do stuff like this impetuously.  I'm not "in love with love", if you know what I mean.  It's not a "what the heck, lets give this a shot and see where it takes us" kind of thing.  This is the real deal.  There is really no time limit after someone loses a spouse as to when its "okay" to fall in love again.  It happens when it happens.  I'm profoundly thankful to God for putting this man in my life.  And I thank God for all my family and friends who worry about me, care about me and love me.  I'm really, really happy right now and feel incredibly blessed.  So there you have it.  I'm looking forward to the future!  Praise God from whom all blessings flow!