Dear Michelle Valentine,

Of all the online dating profiles I viewed, I garnered a reply from a particularly prolific profile.

The best reply was from Holly:

She was a physical therapist from Cape Town, South Africa, on a special exchange program allowing her to satisfy her curiosity about America and work at the same time.

So, maybe because she hasn’t been around American girls long enough to know “the American women dating program”, she returned my voice mail message and even called me some of the time.

We had the good initial conversation, the good first date ending in the commitment to a second date, plus fairly high assurances that no ex-es of hers would be knocking on her door during the week because all of them were on the other side of the Atlantic.

Then guess what?

A second date! And a third! And a fourth!

Then I lost count.

We had a great relationship… for about two months.

Knowing from the beginning that she would eventually be re-traversing the 8,000 miles she’d come in the opposite direction, I suppose it wasn’t the best idea to fall in love with her.

It was tough when I realized she didn’t feel the same way and she happily returned home without so much as sending a postcard to me, but I’m still glad I met her.

David, Altamonte Springs

Dear David,

It is wonderful that you enriched your life with someone of a different culture and country, learned about her as a unique person, and are not bitter with how things ended.

Just remember that you will now be so much more interesting to the right girl, when the right girl comes along!