First a brief overview.
Misha: 36, divorced, 5 y/o son, Science Marketing
Jody:38, divorced, 2/ 1/2 y/o son (primary custody), IT management
We met in early March 2002. I placed an ad on a dating site and selected the ladies I would like to have respond. I got 15 replys in 4 days. These ladies paid their own way to be on this service. One day I was online and I saw a lady named Mabel add me to her IM list. She got my email addr from the services website. I didn't immediately respond to it because I wanted to know who this person was who added me. I put 2 and 2 together and found out she was one of the ones I selected when I placed my ad.
To date we have exchanged over 175 emails and numerous IM's. We have also snail mailed each other hand written letters and pictures (we also sent pix via email).
We have learned a lot about one another and we both are seeking the same exact things from a relationship. We both know it will take some time and we are not going to rush what is obviously inevitable.
The agency has also been most helpful in answering some questions of mine and I have spoken to them in Hong Kong. After doing this search thing for a while, one gets to know how to weed the scams from the serious (IMO it is about a 1000 to 1 ratio).
You may have noticed 2 different names in this letter, so I will explain. She asked me about 3 weeks ago to select a new English name for her that she would like and we would make it a sense of commitment to one another. She wanted me to have her have a name that I would like and would be something she would keep as my commitment to her, so I decided on Misha and the name stuck.
Thats the history in a nut shell, I'll save the gooey details for later. 
Jody
