This was originally posted by anicolosi4 on the community forum.

Hi Deb,

If Montco means Montgomery County then we are neighbors! Actually I never "flipped the switch." I got married because I wanted a family and did not see any alternative (it was very different twenty-something years ago)--I never had any questions about my sexuality as I came out (in the old sense of the word--meaning first sexual experience) when I was 16 and have always loved women.

As the goddess has a wicked sense of humor, I was unable to have children!!

But you are correct in commenting on how many women do "flip the switch" in later life. I think it is because they have gained the confidence over the years to do what they need to do to be happy.

Enjoy the holidays!
Annie

This was originally posted by Tenesmos2 on the community forum.

Hi Annie,

What a lovely story.There has been lots of good reads from this thread. It's amazing how many women were married, and then flipped the switch in their middle years.(raising my flipper here).

Thanks for sharing,

Deb from Montco, Pa.

This was originally posted by pgh jean on the community forum.

Annie
Hey Pa. girl--good story and welcome to this Olivia thread. :)

This was originally posted by brewmax on the community forum.

Thanks for sharing, Annie!

This was originally posted by anicolosi4 on the community forum.

I actually met my partner, Marisa, while we were in high school. I was a junior and she was a freshman--way too young for a sophisticated older woman like myself. But I did notice what a cute little baby butch she was (as we called them in the stones ages). That was in the 1976.

After graduation we had a torrid lust affair for about a year--not love but the greatest sex. It eventually cooled and we went on our separate ways but had the same circle of friends. A few years later we both married (she was in my bridal party).

Marisa's marriage fell apart within a few years when she fell in love with a co-worker who promised she would leave her fiance but never did. Through the years we always kept in touch and would see each other occasionally.

Neither of us can explain what happened next but we were hit with thunderbolts (this was a few years later--1995). Within a few weeks I left my husband and we became lovers again--only this time it was love and lust--a lethal combination!!

That was eleven years ago and we have been together since. We own a home in Bucks County, PA and have a great life.We are comfortably settling into "middle-age." We are lucky and we know it. There is also something very comforting to have a partner whom you have known for most of your life. We will be on the Punta Cana and Mexican Riviera trips.

Annie

This was originally posted by pgh jean on the community forum.

Wow-- Limited Edition- great read. See, now we all know, NOT just your hardresser!

This was originally posted by brewmax on the community forum.

Thanks for getting this thread back in action with a great story, LimitedEdition! :)

Here's wishing you and "Blondie" many more happy years together!

This was originally posted by AMBANDES on the community forum.

LimitedEdition: Sweet story.....

This was originally posted by LimitedEdition on the community forum.

Ok, so I've been reading and reading and I can't help but smile with all of these love stories! What an awesome thread.

I moved from Las Vegas, NV to Whitney, Texas in 1998. Whitney, Texas has a Dairy Queen, a flashing traffic light and a bait shop/mini mart. Talk about culture shock! I was in a short lived relationship and when that failed, I moved away from Whitney and more closer to civilization in Fort Worth with a male friend that I met at work. I had been living with him for about 2 years and enjoying the single life when my hair dresser called and said she wanted me to meet someone. I immediately told her not no, but Hell NO! My hairdresser hasn't always given me the best of advice...(ie..you should go RED! i have no business being a redhead and she should have known that but thats a different story.)

At this time I was working full time with the Police Department, volunteering with the Fire Dept and was going thru EMT school. Needless to say, my plate was a bit full and I was decidedly happy being single. BUT....i did need a haircut. I called my hairdresser and told her I was in need of a snip or two. She was doing hair out of her house at this time which was nice because the schedule was very flexible. I told her I would be available around 7:30pm but that it was my shift for FD and if we got paged I would have to leave then come back. Most of her clients are police and fire so she was ok with the arrangement.

I showed up at her house at about 7:15pm. I brought my male roommate with me since we were all good friends. About 20 minutes after I got there....someone knocked on the door and I just KNEW that I'd been had. I was very much dreading who would walk in the door and my hairdresser just had the biggest grin. I was actually a little miffed that she would take it upon herself to set this awkward meeting up, but it was too late now. I would have to just grin and bear it.

Well, the grin part came quite easily. When she walked through the door I was already smitten. Long blonde, curly hair with gorgeous blue eyes and the best Texas accent a yankee girl could hope for. I couldn't take my eyes off of her. I vaguely remember getting my hair cut at some point during the evening and my buddy and I finally left around 3am. Thank the Lord there were no fire pages that night because I doubt I could have pulled myself from her presence to go! We talked and talked that night and I was just blown away. She was funny, intelligent, gorgeous and I felt like the worlds biggest dork.

We told each other and ourselves that we were just going to be great friends and that we both enjoyed the other's company so much. The JUST friends thing didn't last so long, even tho we gave it a valiant effort. We did last over a month before we finally kissed each other. That was the longest month of my life. I couldn't bring myself to move in with her though because I had alot of fears. Finally one weekend while I was away at my Air Force Reserve training, she moved all of my stuff to her house. I came home but didn't live there anymore. I was essentially living with her anyway but was keeping things and paying rent with my buddy so I would still have that safety net. (Commitment issues anyone?)

We had a lot of learning to do about each other. She had never spent any time around law enforcement. It took a while for her to get used to fire pagers going off in the middle of the night and me having to leave or not getting off work when I was supposed to because of a bad wreck or some other similar town travesty. I think the hardest part was trying to understand what it means to be with someone in these professions...but she has handled it WONDERFULLY. I didn't understand her corporate life either. Dressing up in business suits and fancy schmansy outfits for dinner parties and high powered meetings wasn't exactly where I fit in. We have had to make some adjustments over the years but we sure have evolved together nicely while still being able to keep our individual identity.

I am completely "out" at work and my work family accepts her as any other spouse. Her work friends know me and expect me at get togethers now.

We've been together 6 years and it hasn't been without some ups and downs but we are stronger for the mountains we've climbed and more at peace together for the valleys. I love her and she loves me and there really isn't much more that matters.

This was originally posted by fruitnymph on the community forum.

Yes do tell! :)

This was originally posted by Bev and Susan on the community forum.

Still waiting for Karen and Barb's "to be continuted" story!!

This was originally posted by fruitnymph on the community forum.

I have really enjoyed this thread, and am bringing it to the top in hopes that other couples will share their stories. Hmm? Hmm? Any takers? :)

This was originally posted by AMBANDES on the community forum.

KAREN AND BARB:

How are you ladies doing? When are you coming to South Florida?

Aida & Kim

This was originally posted by pgh jean on the community forum.

Phew!! Come on Karen - where's the second chapter? ;)

This was originally posted by karen and Barb on the community forum.

Well our unique story began in August 1999. I decided I wanted to go back to school full time to become a nurse practitioner.I had been accepted to a master's program and needed to find a nurse practitioner in the Phx area who could be my mentor. Little did I know it would be in more than just medicine. I called one of my professors at a university in Phx and asked if she could give me any names of nurse practitioner's who would be willing to take on a student. I was given Barb's name and phone #. I called and was invited to meet her at her practice site. We chatted about her clinic and my educational goals. After a few minutes her medical assistant told her her next patient was ready. She asked me if I wanted to see my first patient (i hadn't even cracked open any text books yet, and the instructors at school just announced that we were not to see any patient's until the preceptor completed all the necessary paperwork) so of course I said yes and went off with her into the exam room. I saw her every Tues for my clinic rotation. I was in a very unhappy marriage and knew as soon as I finished my Master's program I would file for divorce. We became fast friends, while I would study if I had a question I would call Barb to clarify what didn't make sense to me. She had also just split from her husband of 28 yrs and was tearful about it. I just couldn't see wasting that much energy pinning over a man. At the time, I worked 16 hrs on Sat and 16 hrs on Sun at a rehab hospital. After a while Barb would call me at work and asked if I'd like it if she joined my for lunch and she would make soup or other food to bring me. She even brought placemats and dishes. I wondered why she would go through all that trouble for me, but it beat eating the hospital food. I began to really look forward to clinic hours on Tuesday and we would meet at Borders to play scrabble and drink exotic tea. In Feb the Renaissance festival comes to Phx, we had talked about going together. She invited me over her house to try on dresses so if we went to the festival we could dress like the wenches. When I went over to her house she took 2 dresses out of the closet and gave one to me. I should probably tell you that before I met Barb I was the president of the prude club. No one was allowed to even see me in my PJ's. I had my back to her ready to try the dress on and when I turned around she was still in the room with me. I couldn't figure out why she hadn't left yet. At this point there was nothing going on between us. I quickly got into this dress. The front the yoke was held in place by a hundred hook and eyes. As the prude president, it was imperative that I latch those hooks as quickly as possible. Barb had her dress on and came over to help me with fastening up my dress. Her finger's lightly brushed against my abdomen. For me that was the moment of truth. I was smitten from that point forward. I couldn't stop thinking about her. I was having sensual dreams about her, I wasn't eating, I was losing weight, I couldn't concentrate. Whatever it was I had a terminal case of it. I contacted a friend of mine who I was pretty sure was gay. I told her about my feelings towards Barb, she inquired about what Barb said and did and would tell me whether what occurred was a good sign or bad sign as far as a potential relationship. Finally she thought I should borrow "Desert Hearts" from her and have Barb watch it. I was thinking how could I casually get her to do this with me. Then my husband was going to take our 9 yr old away for the w/e to go skiing. I invited Barb over for dinner and we talked. We went in the jacuzzi, I told her how unhappy I was. She asked if I wanted her to spend the night in the guest bedroom. Now I was totally nuts. I did not have the nerve to tell her that I was crazy about her. I knew I would never sleep if she was in the house. She went home and we started emailing each other. After fast and furious emails I finally wrote to her that I was tired of playing cat and mouse games. Then I called her and told her how I felt. To my delight she also felt the same way. We met the next day in the park to try to make sense out of what was happening to us. We met with a counselor to help us understand what was going on. Barb contacted a gay couple she knew and everyone replied the same "Stop trying to analyze it". Eventually we got over "trying to figure this out". In August of 2000 we went to Key West and stayed at Pearl's Rainbow. On the 8th had our committment ceremony. We've been best friends since then and enjoy traveling together. I've had to abdicate my thrown as the prude president, thanks to Barb making me walk on the wild side, sometimes even in my birthday suit, but she's worth the humiliation. To be continued...... Karen