Dear Anita,

How are you?!

It has been another year since our last communication but I still read this forum and specially our thread from time to time. It is always great seeing your responses to others!

I find when I do have time for myself I really enjoy reading through the different perspectives on this forum, they always have good takeaways.

But how has everything been with you? I hope life post pandemic (well somewhat post pandemic) has been treating you well, sending you good wishes!

I wanted to share some news with you: I am engaged! The person I met through online dating, thanks to your help, is now my fiancé. I am so happy and so grateful. The proposal was a dream come true in Paris, and we are now planning our wedding for next year. I have mixed emotions but mostly a feeling of bliss. As the months get closer we have a lot of planning to do, especially our families are very excited and with our cultural backgrounds the events will be huge. I am also nervous for this as more pressure is building before the wedding but I’m still enjoying the process.

I think lately my biggest challenge in life is professional growth. I have thought of pursuing a PhD for awhile now but something always makes me hesitant—I am also hoping to switch to a higher professional role that focuses more on my passion—so this is where I am currently at. But for now I am focusing on the wedding and my current job to keep me sane as a lot of planning is headed my way.

It’s unbelievable for me to realize how much has changed since the first time I wrote on this forum.

Hope to hear from you again, Anita.

Take care,

Noor

To any other readers seeing this, please know that the heartbreak I did suffer from made me think I would never be in the place I am now. But I am so much happier and wiser. I am thankful for the heartbreak and I promise you will be too.