A year ago I sent a question to a pretty girl who was also looking for friends on a website.

She responded with possibly the longest response I have ever received. It was thorough and thoughtful. And a little nervous. That part was cute.

We talked some more. A lot.

Meanwhile, I was told that I needed to have surgery. My doctor thought that I had uterine cancer. So I needed the surgery asap and I needed someone to help me since I was living alone at the ranch with the horses and my 4 dogs.

But my wife had just left me and my only friend was going to be out of town. So Beth stepped up. Let me reiterate that she had known me less than a month when she took on this role.

She had no idea what kind of person I am or how much of a handful I can be. (I will let her fill you in on that, if you don’t already know.)

Then she told me her secret (that was never really a secret in the first place). She had a crush on me.

I really liked her too.

But I was entangled in a relationship with someone else who said that they cared about me but really just saw an opportunity to take advantage of a vulnerable person who they knew had feelings for them.

Beth saw what was happening with the other person and the direction everything was headed. She knew I was going to end up devastated with a bleeding wound.

She promised herself that she would be there for me when this other person was done with me and left me to bleed out. She didn’t believe that she and I would end up together after such an ordeal.

We did.

She was there for me when I fell apart, even when I pushed her away. She saw through me.

She didn’t toss me aside when I did something she didn’t like.

And today we celebrate a year since we first exchanged messages. A year since our journey began.

The beginning…