I met Hardy in June 2000. I had moved to Knoxville, Tenn., a few months earlier for a job at the same company where he was finishing up a temporary work assignment. In fact, we met the night before he went back to his home country, Holland. I was meeting some co-workers at a club and when I didn't see them, I sat down at the bar. That's when Hardy came up to order a drink. Right away I noticed his cute accent and his great smile. He says he noticed my eyes and my voice first. We connected right away and danced and talked all the way until his flight left the next morning.
I figured this would be the end of the story. I wasn't interested in a transcontinental relationship. But we continued to talk through e-mail and two weeks later he was back in Knoxville on another temporary assignment. Any time we didn't spend at work, we spent with each other. By our third date, I knew I had met "The One." Hardy gives me a sense of comfort I have never known before. I don't know how to describe it. I always feel like I am myself around him. I never feel judged. And I always feel like I'm being taken care of.
Shortly thereafter, Hardy took a permanent position in New Jersey. We continued to get to know each other through phone calls and occasional visits. After eight months, I quit my job and moved to Jersey to be with him. We moved in together and finally were able to get to know each other in person — the good and the bad.
