Aug 6, 2009

We were married in our back yard – in the gazebo (complete with a small moat!). It was a beautiful day and there were lots of friends and family there.. The trees and flowers in full bloom, the temperature outside was perfect, and everything under the sun was in tune! There are some really good pictures too. Of course, in this new digital age, there were lots of cameras there and we have hundreds of photos to go through. I’ll post some soon, but until then, here’s a picture of our youngest (of 3) ringbearers: My nephew Christopher

For the Honeymoon, we took a trip down to the coast of Oregon and back. I had no idea it was so beautiful there! We decided after all the planning for the wedding, that we wanted to NOT plan the honeymoon at all. We chose Oregon as our destination, but our schedule and trip planning was down to zero and it was great! Hot and Sunny days, we hiked to waterfalls and drove to beaches and were there for the fireworks on the 4th of July. Nice to see, but I still think the International Fireworks competitions that Calgary hosts each year is MUCH better!

So now we’re back at home, learning (as we go) about how to keep fish alive in a pond. We’ve got a few goldfish to start.. saving the expensive fish for perhaps next year, when we know for sure we can take care of them properly. I never thought I’d enjoy sitting around in the sun feeding a bunch of fish, but it’s pretty cool to see how they actually warm up to you over time. They are already taking food right from our fingers

It’s still a bit puzzling to me to reflect on this website, the radio, the events that took place – seems like a bedtime story, actually! On the reality side of things, I can feel the difference in how we are more collective and comfortable day by day. Knowing that our intentions are for a lifetime, it’s easier to take things day by day and establish a common lifestyle together as it comes. It’s sure nice to be over all of the planning and stress of the wedding. Now to enjoy the rest of the summer!

Craig

June 14, 2009

June 27th – Just Two Weeks Away!

Well hello there! It’s been a while hasn’t it!  Sorry about that, just been busy that’s all..

What’s going on? How’ve we been? We’ve been terrific! Strange that it’s been six months since my last post – has everything changed alot? Yes and no. I’d say some of the leaves and branches have changed a little but the tree has strengthened it’s roots, you know? Six months ago a whirlwind started and quickly turned into somewhat of a severe weatherstorm – Decisions could no longer be postponed :)

The storm is over now, and the media, the publicity, and the people who came to our attention have gotten settled back into their own lives. That’s awesome!  Who would have ever thought such a single event could even momentarily impact the feelings and emotions of so many collective people!

You were rallying from home, the office, the other side of the country, and even other parts of the world!  And it made all the difference. And now here I am with Kimberly, living in a stronger, happier relationship.  I hope that those events have affected your lives in a healthier way as well.. Perhaps they rippled through and ruffled enough feathers in your own relationships that you are stronger individually, and collectively. If so, send me an email: forevergroom@iheartmondaybride.ca or sign the guestbook and tell me/us what your story is. I know what mine is, and I’d like to hear yours.. :)

Here’s what I can tell you about our story over the last six months.  Christmas was around the corner last time I wrote and it was a good one.  We decided to avoid the Christmas run-around and spent the morning by ourselves and with the dogs.  We both agree that running around trying to visit all of our family and friends in one day is just not a very nice way to spend a day – so we split our visits into 3 days and took our time.  Much more enjoyable!

Since then we’ve been establishing a new lifestyle together.. strengthening the good points of our relationship, and dissolving the bad. It’s amazing how the issues have changed – once difficult grievances are now almost trivial! I attribute that to having survived through some of life’s more difficult times together, including the 2 strangers events.

You know when you have a dream that is so real you dont even know its a dream until you wake up?  Well, there are times when I wake up and I have to re-assure myself that the whole 2 strangers thing actually was a reality.  I mean come on! Radio contest?? Papparazzi?? Dual identities and aliases?? Billboards, newspaper articles, nightly news at six?? Canada-AM?? Ex-girlfriend pending marriage to a total stranger??  It’s insane, but it did happen!

Now aside from a few minor adjustments and a nice, normal dose of everyday life we are on our way again. :) The only thing left is the REAL wedding two weeks away, in our back yard on June 27th.

I bet you’re wondering what the odds are that she’ll marry me.  Or that I’ll marry her.  Or that someone else will put up another even bigger billboard for either of us.

All I can say is that without a doubt: stranger things have happened!

Please sign the guestbook so I/we know that you’re there. I’d love to chat with you again and answer any questions you may have :)

Craig

December 19, 2008

His and Hers

Well I’ve heard of His and Her matching 4×4’s, beamers, bath towels, robes, and bathroom sinks, but having your own His and Her billboards has got to be a first! :)

Bad weather had delayed the installation, so it was not until today that I saw the bright green billboard Kimberly had put up for me. It says:

“Forever Groom (Craig)… YES! …Monday Bride (Kimberly)”

There’s also a small “Jewels By Maxime’s” signature in the bottom left corner.. That’s because they, along with Pattison Outdoor, wanted to help Kimberly with displaying her Answer to my proposal.

It’s great to have taken the chance and sent out such a daring proposal and have the answer returned in the same fashion. Seeing this new billboard reminded me of all of the unique events that took place over the last few months. It certainly will be a story to remember :)

As well, seeing “Craig” on a billboard and knowing it was actually referring to me was pretty darn cool too! You never really know what that feels like until it happens to you!

The bad news is I didn’t have my camera with me at the time. So later in the afternoon I grabbed it and again drove past to get a picture. Unfortunately traffic was heavy and there wasn’t any time to pull over. There was also too much snow on the side of the road and would probably have gotten stuck anyway.

So tomorrow I’ll drive by again. This time I’ll park at the bottom of the hill and walk up a little way to get a picture or two. If all goes well, I’ll be posting a picture here when I get home.

Have a Merry Christmas Everyone!

Craig

December 16, 2008

Moving Day

What another exhausting day!!  Today we moved our stuff into our new place and MAN AM I WORN OUT!!  We had help from good friends on mostly last minute notice – we were supposed to move yesterday, but the scheduling for the truck got a little messed up!

I finally got some time today to let some more comments through to the Guestbook.. Nice to see lots of nice ones from some really nice people.. Kimberly did get some air time today on the radio but we were also in the middle of loading up the moving truck so I think she didn’t quite come across as well as she hoped.  But I say Oh Well! Them’s the breaks!  The important thing is that everyone came out happy on this one and there’s some really cool memories for us all to keep in our treasure chests.. :)

Pls keep the comments coming .. it’s sure nice to get them :)

Craig

PS: Kimberly asked me to post the following here, on the home page:

Thank you so much for the well wishes! It really does mean a lot to both Craig and I.

Today I didn’t give my best interview on the radio. I actually love being on the air with Energy and I have come to care so much about the staff there. Throughout the 2 Strangers experience (when I wasn’t completely nervous or nerve wracked!) I had a blast with the Dj’s and listeners too.

But having said that, I am just a real person who took a chance, opened my heart and my life up to the city. I know when you do something like that, you take the good and bad that comes. You might know that intellectually but it never seems to make the emotional stuff any easier when you’re actually going through it :) Today, I was nervous on air. Truthfully I was bracing for something that never came.

I spent much of the day fretting about how ill composed I felt (on air and off btw!) and then Craig encouraged me to read the updates here. I was moved by your well wishes and support. I got teared up when I read Cyndi’s words about hearing the heartbreak in my voice and wanting to express myself so that people would understand and be happy for us. Cyndi’s right.

I do desperately want people to understand that I went through the experiment with integrity. It was important to me to be someone I could be proud of a year after the 2 Strangers thing – regardless of the romantic outcome. Of course you can’t please everyone and there is no secret recipe for avoiding all critics, especially in something as big and potentially controversial as the 2 Strangers event was. But I tried. To me, that meant being as honest and open as possible while making the most of the opportunity and support that Energy and the listeners were giving me.

In the end, Craig won me over, won me back – and ironically I am the one who wins! I have this amazing person to spend my life with. Of course we have a romantic history, but we also have a solid proven friendship throughout the past year when we were broken up. I know this man. I trust him. I like him. I forgive him. I embrace him. I love him – and I can’t wait to say I do!

On the surface, the house thing (moving in today!) seems fast. However, we used to live together. We already knew what we wanted in a house and neighborhood. Once we knew we were going to spend our lives together, we wanted the rest of our lives to start right away (I think there is a great quote in “When Harry Met Sally” that says exactly that.

Our families and friends are thrilled for us. They have 5 years of history to base that on – good times, bad times, life, death, thick and thin, richer and poorer, sickness, health, friendship, and love – all faced as a couple and at other times as friends. I’m confident that we have what it takes and I thank you so much for walking along this path with us.

I know that on this journey you took sides, had favorites, got caught up in the story from various angles. I want you to know that I am so proud to have represented the station as the Monday Bride. I am happy to know Jeff and to be able to call him a friend. I am grateful for the adventure and discovery, the support, the patience, and for everyone who took the time to participate. This includes my family and friends who took the leap of faith with me – not knowing the outcome but supporting me through the journey (a scary thing when it’s your loved one lol!) And of course I am humbled and grateful to Craig’s loved ones and supporters who have accepted and embraced me again after 2 Strangers. I am very honored to be moving forward as his wife.

~Kimberly~

December 9, 2008

The Turnaround!

After taking some time away from the spotlight and unwinding back down to normal life, I’m finally able to post something concrete about this story! I’m please to say it’s all good now, but you’re probably wondering what happened after the two strangers event.. and what exactly do I mean when I say it’s all good.  Read on.  If you think I’ve missed anything, jump right back into the guestbook and write another post.  I’ll respond. I’m writing this update to the people that followed this story and got involved with the guest book.  I didn’t want to leave you all hanging.. :)

In addition to an update here, there’s also another article in the Entertainment section of today’s Calgary Herald by Robin Summerfield: “The Bride Chooses Her Groom“. A nice touch to the end of the story :)

So to continue where we left off a few weeks ago…

The days that followed the ‘non-wedding’ were just as important as the days before. Kimberly had listened to her heart and did not go through with the wedding. Instead, a date with the groom was promised and though this wasn’t exactly the outcome I had wanted that day, I had to stay true to my word and respect her decision to allow herself more time in making ANY decision.

I felt good knowing that I had made a difference in the outcome that day,  but I also felt tired and worn down.  I didn’t know if I could continue with the same strength and posterity.  The situation was still very sensitive, and it had been a very, very long day.  Up until this point it had seemed pretty straightforward: October 30th was the deadline. I knew what I had to do up until that day and I hoped that afterwards everything else would fall into place.

However, October 30th came and while the outcome that day was significant, nothing really “fell into place” afterward. I had left the ceremony after the initial announcement to take some time for myself and collect my thoughts.

Although the outcome that day was a small (yet significant) victory, I was nowhere near the finish line. At first, I didn’t know how to proceed. What were my options? I’ve never been in this situation before (imagine that!) – I decided the best thing was to get some much needed sleep and see how I felt when I awoke.

After a few solid hours of sleep my mid-morning nap came to a sudden halt when some close friends of mine dropped by. They had also attended the mornings events and came by to see how I was doing. I didn’t even hear the doorbell, and the dogs didn’t go crazy at the door either. I must have left it unlocked because there they were suddenly standing in my bedroom trying to get me motivated again. I was still a pretty groggy and upset, but also surprised at their tone.

“Don’t stop now Joey, keep going!” she said (her husband and I always called each other Joey).

“You can’t stop now or she’ll think you did it all for the wrong reasons!” She said.

They were right. I had come too far to let it all fall to pieces from here.

They said she would be resistant. They said she would be angry. They said she needs to hear me say I’m sorry. Privately.

They were right.

In the days that followed I had to make it known that my intentions were still valid.  I also had to give her space to sort things out.  I continued to court her romantically.. I kept on with the *little things* that I hoped would flatter her. I even left a bouquet of flowers on the windsheild of her car with one of the Support Forever Groom cards tucked neatly away in it.  On the back of the card I wrote: “Support your local Forever Groom: Marry Him Today!”

Romantic kinds of things like this certainly helped. To my surprise I found that I once again remembered how fun it really can be doing all these romantic things and seeing your gal smile like that.  It felt good for me, and I could tell it felt good to her, too. But I knew I still had to give her space as well.

I told her that I would continue being spontaneous and playful as long as it was enjoyable and not overbearing for either of us. I knew there would be times where I had to back off and give her time to herself, but I took that time to catch up on things that I had previously been putting on hold, and also to sit back and think about things a little.

When she called, I was responsive and attentive to what she was saying. Some of it I didn’t like hearing, but other things I did.  It was a difficult period of time because it was hard to say what the outcome would be. I was preparing myself to head off into the sunset without her, while still keeping things open for the possibility of a future together.

We talked in depth about our relationship and where it was going. We spent time together. We worked on clarifying what things went wrong previously and discussed common goals and boundaries. We decided beforehand which moments we would spend discussing our relationship and which ones we would spend relaxing and enjoying each other’s company. We laughed. We watched movies. We got good sleep. We stayed active and ate healthy. We reconnected. And yes, we also argued. But we also reached out again and reconnected, discussing our views of what went wrong. We found that a large part of these arguments were simply a result of miscommunication and/or a misunderstanding of the others point of view.

How nice was it then! To realize that not only did we just miscontrue each others actions, but that we both also made recognizable efforts toward understanding what the problem really was.  Many times this process seemed to take much longer than either of us would have expected, but it was certainly worth the effort.  Knowing where things went wrong is essential for getting through it all.

So where are we now?  Well, Kimberly has since accepted my proposal and we plan to be married on June 27th of 2009 in the backyard of our new home where we hope to spend many enjoyable years to come.

Oh and by the way, I haven’t forgotten about the Grand Prize draw in the contest - I’m looking forward to it! I’ll make the draw for the invitations once we have formalized the itinerary.

Thank you again for your time spent writing in the Guestbook. You voiced your opinions and took an interest in my plight.  I do believe it DID make a difference!  It made everyone stop and think for minute and that made it real.

– Craig

November 22, 2008

Hello again!

I’ve finally got around to delivering the prizes to the winners in the contest. What else have I been doing? Regular stuff, like working, taking Trevor for walks in the field and at the river.. And I’ve also been talking with Kimberly alot about our future. Things are going well, but as you can imagine there’s quite a bit of emotional material for us to work through. Perserverence is key, and so is space and time.

I do feel that things are going well – it’s nice that we have good communication skills and finally, a common direction. I hope that soon she will accept my marriage proposal and we’ll be having that draw for the Wedding Invitations!

I will keep you posted! Thank you so much for your support and comments in the guest book – things may have turned out quite a bit differently otherwise!

Craig

November 5, 2008

Well this will be my last post on here for a while. I won’t even be logging in anymore. I’ve had some very serious and uplifting talks with Kimberly and the end result is that I must let her go. She is unable to give me her hand in marriage at this time and I need to give her the space she’s asked for. I Love her more than anyone can imagine but neither of us know how much space she’s going to need. I don’t know when or even if she’ll decide to come back. It tears me up inside. ..I can’t leave myself open like this for much longer..but I’m going to do my best to move on.

Please see the guestbook one more time as she posted a comment today.

November 1, 2008

Well things are looking better these days.. I’m still vying for Kimberly’s hand in marriage, and I’m going to keep things a little more private and personal there so I’ll only be posting progress here if I think it’s ok to do so.

However, if you’d like to get back to your normal life in the mean time but would like to automatically receive progress notices on your cell phone as they become available, sign up to ‘follow’ me on twitter.com. I won’t be spamming you with all kinds of garbage there, just any important news updates with respect to Kim and I.

Signing up is free and so is the service (except for your phone company’s standard text messaging rates of course).

Gotta run.. Lenny Kravitz is playing tonight..

Craig

October 31, 2008

Today is anew

Well after a good nights sleep I can finally reflect upon the days events from yesterday. No doubt, it was a very big day for everyone involved.

I think everything went rather well and I’m sure happy they didn’t go through with getting married. Kimberly and I have not had many moments to really talk about things yet, as she has been very busy doing photo shoots and such, and I’ve been busy spending time with our friends from Saskatoon and answering my phone all day.

I’m glad yesterday is finally behind us and I feel great for going to all the lengths I did to make my intentions known to Kimberly and the rest of the world. No matter how things go from here I can at least reflect on the difference I made in the outcome.

Today I’m going to take Trevor, Jimmy and Bailey, and Kooky Kyro for a much needed walk as they have been waiting so patiently for days to get some well deserved attention.

I do want to say thank you once again to all of the people that helped make a difference.

Darren Toombs (aka Forever Saskatoon) and Quentin Karmark (aka Forever OneIdea) were right there when I needed them to help build this website and get it operational in record time. Darren is a good friend of mine and has always been there backing me up when I needed it. I still have not met Quentin in real life, but I can tell he’s a great person. The moment he heard of my situation he responded and started helping out right there and then.

Robin Summerfield of the Calgary Herald is such a great columnist!  She was able to make sense of this rather bizarre situation and come up with a very well written article that fairly (and evenly) represented all sides of the story. I’m sure grateful for that first article she wrote as it really helped get things on the map. We’ve had some good conversations over the course of my plight and I consider Robin a very true and trustworthy friend.

Nance McDougal (and others) of Pattison Outdoor, were exceptionally helpful with creating Kim’s billboard and getting it out there as fast as possible. I’m really happy with the way it turned out and I know Kimberly loved it too!

Of course, the rest of my friends responded quickly too. Some of them even stepped up the contest a notch or two by donating the other prizes in the draw.

But I think the real difference came when everyone else got involved with the Guestbook. There were some great opinions expressed there and over the duration I noticed some of them even started to change their views on the situation. I hope you all will return to this site often as I hope to keep it around for a little while and see how things go. If people are still coming to the site, I will keep posting updates.

My ultimate goal is of course, to see if Kimberly and I can work things out and live a happy and long life together. I know that there are lots of things to talk about and soft wounds to heal. It’s going to take some time, and some delicate attention but that’s something Kimberly and I have always had going for us: We have great communication skills with each other and excellent weatherability traits so I know that if we decide to we can accomplish anything together.

I’ve got my fingers crossed :)

– Craig

October 30, 2008

I’m so happy today! I’m finally in the home stretch! I just need to keep it up until she finally marries me!

Kimberly, I Love You! ..and I’m so glad you didn’t get married today.. So how about you and me get married tomorrow? Say the word honey, and we’ll elope to Mexico or Las Vegas! Let’s talk about it

After you finally get some time for yourself I’ll take us out for a quiet dinner, movie, or whatever you feel like doing.

I still need you to know that I love you and I want to be with you for the rest of my life!

Love, Craig

ps: There were 3 more posters I had made, and you can see them here:

Jump In – You’ll remember this picture from Christina Lake a few summers ago.

Bubble Baths – Gotta love those bubble baths baby!

I’m good – I’ll be your mechanic everyday sweetie!

Today’s the Big Day – October 30, 2008

Well my Darling, I know today is going to be a big day for so many more reasons than just “you’re getting married”. I know that it’s been hard for you (and me) to make sense of everthing that’s been happening through this entire 2 Strangers ordeal.

But before you make your decision, I want you to know that I did all of this for you, in the name of Love; in my name; and in yours. My forever goal is to marry you, one day at a time, and keep marrying you everyday, forever.

We’ve had to get through some pretty hard times these last few years. These times that really had nothing to do with us, even though they did continually chip away at our souls. We weathered each and every one of those storms together, no matter the context of our relationship. We stood the test of time. We just got a little lost along the way..

But we’re still here, loving and caring for each other. We’re still discussing our futures together. We need to lay all our cards straight out on the table and take each other by the hand. We need to become united again and step back into an environment where we can talk without the sound of the rain drowning out our words. We need to take a few days to rest and relax. We need to walk the ground in our bare feet and stay connected to what’s really important to us: each other.

I know, it’s kinda funny when you think about it. I mean, I can totally see myself saying all of these things to you in person, but where did all these cameras and internet connections come from? *smile* .. I think most people that know us would have nailed it when they said I’d be sorry for not having married you earlier, but who knew I’d be proposng under such strange circumstances?

Sweetie, I Love you, and I just want the chance to make things right for us.

Remember all those little but lengthy arguments that came up at the end of the day when we were way too tired to discuss them properly?

Whoosh.

Push them all off the table with me and we’ll pick each one up, one by one, and do the puzzle together again, and this time, I’ll bring the snacks in from the kitchen.

I Love you baby.

– Forever Groom

October 29, 2008

For those that still don’t believe.. Watch CityTV tonight at six (I believe it is channel 8 in Calgary). I was interviewed on camera today and I’m trusting they’re not going to reveal my identity.. for just one more day.. :)

Thanks again to all who have helped me in my endeavors.. Even if I have to go back to the drawing board. Here’s hoping for happy endings :)

– Forever Groom

Oh and one more thing.. I’m still getting entries for the contest.. so I’m moving the entry deadline date to Sunday November 2, at 12:00 PM. and the draw will be November 3, at 5:00 PM.

October 28, 2008

Just wanted to say thanks to the two people that have helped make this website a functioning reality in such a small amount of time. For now I’ll just call you “Forever Saskatoon” and “Forever OneIdea”. You two have helped immensely with my efforts and I will gladly return the favor some day. Thank you!

– Forever Groom

October 27, 2008

Anybody up watching Canada AM at 5:50 this morning? Apparently Monday was on answering questions about Forever Groom and I missed it! That’ll teach me for falling asleep at the wheel.

Anyway, if you saw it please tell me about it in the Guestbook.

Thanks!

– Forever Groom

October 26, 2008

Talk about stress! Monday announces her groom choice tomorrow morning at 7:15 on Energy 1015. No matter *who* she chooses I’m not going to feel good hearing it. This feels so strange!!

..But, in the end if you really want to be with someone else Monday.. I will do my best to stand by your decision.

Life is certainly not easy is it.

October 24, 2008

Busy day today Monday, I hope you’re getting through it all ok and that you’ll get home safe.

October 24, 2008

Hard work really does pay off!  See how you can get your own contest card!

October 24, 2008

It’s Friday!

I’m going full out this afternoon and this weekend to get more supporters. I’ll be in the malls handing out Support Forever Groom cards and I’ll be hoping to leave some cards with the cashiers at various stores. I’m calling on my friends and family for help with this too so feel free to ask them any questions you might have.

If you sign up to follow me on twitter.com you’ll get incoming text messages sent to your phone via their service and can track which malls I’ll be in and when. Just the same, you could sign up just to keep tabs on what’s going on without having to get on the computer. FYI twitter.com doesn’t give out your cell number and this site doesn’t have access to it either so it’s pretty safe to join.

In my travels I’m going to approach individual jewelry stores first and hope they’re willing to hand out cards on my behalf. I’m choosing those stores first because I think out of all the retailers out there, jewelry stores are all about Love and are probably more likely to help me out with the cards.

I’m hoping the store owners are OK with this and I do wish I had the time to talk to them myself about it but I’ve got sooo much to do and time is running short.

If you are a store owner and are OK with people coming in to pick up a card, please email me at forevergroom@iheartmondaybride.ca and let me know where to drop off some cards. Also, let me know if it’s OK to post the location of your store on this site so that people can go there and pick up a card themselves.

Thanks again for supporting me and voicing your thoughts on the Guestbook.

– Forever Groom

October 22, 2008

Just want everybody to know I like hearing your views on this.. It’s nice to see there are people out there with a voice and are willing to use it!

– Forever Groom

October 21, 2008

So cool! I’m in the paper! The story so far is in today’s Calgary Herald in an article written by Robin Summerfield – “A would-be groom comes to his senses“. I tip my hat to Robin, for her outstanding writing abilities – I think she’s done an excellent job in portraying the story and I want to thank her for giving me the opportunity to reach an audience I might not have otherwise been able to reach (especially in such a short amount of time).  Thank you Robin! :)

And so you’re curious now aren’t you.. Read on.. and get involved. I’d really like to hear your point of view.. You can post your comments in the Guest Book. As well, don’t forget to see the Supporters page. Additionally, bookmark this site and keep up on the events. I’ll be posting blogs here about what’s going on so you can watch the story unfold.

I’m also finalizing the details of a contest I’d like to have. Still working on getting the prize list (and the list of prize donors).. However, I can promise that if Monday Bride marries me instead there will be a few wedding invitations of ours on the prize list.

Thanks so much for visiting and showing your support!

– Forever Groom

October 16, 2008

Thanks for visiting IHeartMondayBride.ca :) This site was only started yesterday so it’s a little bare. I hope to get the message board and the rest of the items working as soon as possible. Please take a moment to bookmark it in your browser. I’ll be adding to it daily. You can drop me an email if you like at forevergroom@iheartmondaybride.ca

Tip: Check out the daily blog section. There’s some content in there!

Most days I’m your typical guy: independant, motivated, and successful in the endeavors that I choose. But these days I find myself in one particularily strange situation and I don’t want to be left behind feeling like a kid who just watched the school bus drive off without him. Most of all I don’t want the Woman I Love to be on that bus!

So, with the help of some close (and like me, nerdy) IT-type friends of mine, I’d like to buy some leverage. My goal is to win back my sweetie’s heart and have her accept my proposal to marry her. Where and When is of no matter to me – but the sooner the better!

In the interest of fun, mystery, and all things Love I will only refer to myself as “Forever Groom”. You may already know of the woman I’m in love with.. around Calgary she is gaining popularity as “Monday Bride” in a radio station promotion called “Two Strangers & A Wedding” .

At some point in the near future I will reveal my identity and, if Monday Bride wishes, her identity as well. Maybe someday we’ll even post baby pictures and give them mysterious identities as well. :)

To keep the record clean on my intentions, let the record show that it is not my wish to unbridal anybody’s horses.. that is, I don’t intend to spoil the 2 strangers promotion, nor do I intend on spoiling the reputations of anyone involved. I think the 2 strangers promotion is a brilliant idea – I’m just not crazy about the effect it may have on me!

You probably want to know what kind of a relationship I have with Monday Bride. Well, we met almost 5 years ago over the Internet (Online dating man, you gotta try it!). We dated each other for over 4 of the 5 years and now remain best friends.

I have to say.. Most relationships I’ve seen either end in ruins, or they end cleanly but absolutely cold-turkey. Not ours. Somehow, over the course of events to come, we promised each other one by one that we would be there for each other – through thick and thin – to help each other through the obstacles that were soon to come. Sure enough, we got through them and became even better friends. Watching our relationship morph in the process was an amazing experience and it’s changed my outlook on life. Especially life with her. :)

Questions Questions… I know. Why am I not one of the potential grooms? Why didn’t I ask her to marry me when I had the chance? Two very honorable questions, yes. Still worth talking about? Yeah sure, but “It is what it is” and cryin’ about it isn’t going to help right now. If I have to sob about it, I’d rather do it all at once when it’s all over. And if that’s the way it turns out, I’ll be accepting sympathy cards!

Please have a look around this site – and come back daily! I will be adding to it over the next few weeks.

I’m going to let Monday Bride and all of her friends and family know about this site so they’ll be cruising it too. Feel free to leave your comments on the message board for her, them, or me!

Hopefully I can persuade Monday Bride to say ‘Yes!’ to a married life with me.

– Forever Groom (ForeverGroom@IHeartMondayBride.ca)