I went to bed last night with just one comment left to go in the comment contest. I found it posted here this morning… by Elder Mike.
So that’s it, Michael–you posted Comment No. 91,000 and that makes you the winner. You have but to claim your prize and let me know your mailing address. (Sorry, but the deal for an honorary doctorate from Fimbo University fell through.)
An autographed copy of one of my Bell Mountain books (your choice of title–I know you already have the first two)
A T-shirt that says “If they have to kill us, they’ve lost”
A little bag of plastic army men. (Hey, you never know!)
The next contest, of course, will be our annual Christmas Carol Contest, starting on the day after Thanksgiving. How time flies!
Congratulations.
It’s been a long time since I have won anything. I think the last time, was when I won the heart of a young woman, who became my wife. And that took hundreds of emails, letters, phone calls, and a few gifts. We had one whole year of correspondence before we met for the first time. I still have all of our letters/emails, what a big pile they make.
I would like the third book in the “Bell Mountain” series. I am reading the second one and going to start chapter 6 tomorrow. A large size T-shirt would be fine. I will send my address to your personal email, tomorrow, it’s now time for bed here in the Philippines.
A little bag of plastic army men…I used to play with plastic army men out in my parent’s yard.
One more thing, thank you very much.
Congrats Michael!
Congratulations, Mike. You will enjoy your prize as I enjoyed mine when I was a winner
Well done Mike/ Enjoy your prize.
Congratulations, Mike! And what a beautiful story about how you won your wife.
Here is a bit more about my relationship with Maribeth.
After 19 years of marriage, my first wife found a new love, which ended our marriage. Eight years after my divorce when I was 49, I became a member of the Christian Singles Registry, which was conceived by an American man who married a Filipino. This couple thought it was a good idea to start a service, a way for Christian American men, to meet Christian Filipino women. I became a member and sent my personal information. They publish this information in many countries, and of course, throughout the Philippines.
I got letters from women of all ages, 17 to 51, and from various countries. But most were from the Philippines. After receiving 59 letters, I got one from Maribeth. She included a short letter along with a picture and other information. I looked at her picture, so pretty! I eagerly began to read her letter; I liked it until I read: “… 25 years of age.” She was so young and I was 49, it took me three weeks of prayer and contemplation before I wrote my first letter, so many things to consider. It wasn’t a love letter, but full of information and questions. This started a one-year long-distance relationship, which after a few months blossomed into courtship, with letters, hundreds of emails, and phone calls. I gave her every bit of information about myself I could think of, the good, the bad, and the ugly. I made sure she knew everything about the kind of man she was planning to marry, so she wouldn’t encounter any big surprises after we said our vows (Oh Honey, by the way, I’m really a hitman for the mob). I also asked numerous questions, for I also wanted to know the kind of woman she was, and if she was mature enough to handle the stress, that at times comes with matrimony. The age difference was never a problem. In fact, she had a hard time keeping up with me.
Because of our complete honesty with each other during courtship, after all our years of marriage, I only had one big surprise about Maribeth. She didn’t like facial hair on men. When I met her for the first time, I had a goatee and mustache. And every time I would grow it back, she would ask me if I was going to shave. One day after I had grown it one week, I told her, “I had a goatee and mustache when I met you the first time. Doesn’t this bring back good memories?”
After one full year of communication, I was finally able to take a two-week excursion to the Philippines and meet the young woman who would become my wife, along with many of my soon-to-be in-laws. She was a Godly woman, who, on our wedding night, was still a virgin. Today, not many women can present that kind of gift to their husbands on their wedding day. She was only 44 when she died on August 26, 2021, two days before we would have celebrated our 17th wedding anniversary.
I hardly know what to say; but thank you, Mike, for entrusting us, your friends, with your story.