Hello dear, of course I read your letters.  I enjoyed greatly.  No, you did tell me you were once married.  It does not matter; I was married as well, by common law.  It ended a long time ago.  I have a son; he is older, in his 20’s and goes to university in another state.

Firstly, age is of no importance to me. As I said, I have been single for quite some time; however, the last person in my life was about your age. It is not that I strive to seek out younger women; I do not.  In fact, I am very particular about who I associate with and spend time with.  Therefore, again I say age is not important to me. What is important to me is Trust, honor, loyalty, respect, caring and, of course, love. 

These things come in all shapes, sizes, races, and ages.  You cannot really chose that you love or whom, “the heart wants, what the heart wants, and nothing else in the world matters but the person standing before you. That person when you first lay your eyes on them makes your heart skip a beat, your breath catches in your throat, and you fumble your words as your mouth goes dry.  This in my opinion is what love is and there is not a force on this earth greater. 

Yes, I have heard the saying my dear and it is beautiful.  I understand what you are saying and respect your honesty.  As an older man, I have made my fare share of mistakes.  I have my faults as we all do, but I strive to recognize them, improve them, and move on.  I can honestly say that I rarely make the same mistake twice.  I have learned, loved, and lost.  It has only made me stronger.  I am truly a man of honor and integrity; both a warrior and a poet, who has seen life at it ugliest and at its most beautiful. 

      I am loyal to a fault; when I give myself to someone; it is all of me, for better or worse.  I do not philander.  As I said, I am not without fault, but have grown and learned from past misdeeds.  You have nothing to worry about that in that area.  I promise. 

        My Russian is a bit rusty, but I can get by I think.  I grew up in a household where my parents spoke two different languages, Russian and Spanish.  It seemed as though they never understood one another.  It was almost comical, dad yelling at mom in Russian, mom-yelling back at dad in Spanish.  Go figure, they always seemed to get their points across… 

       I can be nice, yes especially if I care for someone.  As far as liking you, I cannot say for sure because that would be a flat out lie.  I honestly do not know you yet. I am not looking for a friend; I have friends.  However, what I can tell you is I ‘m looking for a women of quality, a companion to share my life with, a partner, a confidant, a lover and that I am willing to try with you, to care for you under my own roof, nurture the possibility of a long lasting relationship with you.   

       Now, with that that being said, here is more of the honesty part. You may find it somewhat brutal but I feel it has to be said and for that, I do apologize sincerely. 

       As I told you before, I am partially, Russian; I have friends with Russian and Czechoslovakian wives.  The reason I tell you this is that last year I received an email from a women who claimed she had found me on a web based dating site. She claimed to be obtaining a work visa such as you, and wanted to come to the states.  At the last moment before her arrival, she claimed to have had a problem with the visa and needed additional funds.  She promised that if I helped her, she would come to the US and be with me.  Now, I had no problem with helping or caring for her, especially if I wanted to be with her. So, I was prepared to do so, assist her.  When my friend’s wives caught wind of what I was planning, they interceded and asked me to stop until they explained why.  

My friend’s wives told me of a huge fraud running across Eastern Europe and parts of Africa, where willing would be brides claimed they wanted to come to the US, be with a man they had allegedly met on line, offering friendship, and possibly love.  However, it turned out to be a swindle, to de-fraud money from un-suspecting men who were lonely.  They begged me to make sure; using all my resources, and I did just that. I found that the women who claimed she was willing to come to the US on a visa and be with me, was in fact a notorious fraud artist, operating across the globe.  Now, you ask, how do I know this or learned of her illegal activities.  Let me explain, I thought I had before but I am not sure, so, I will explain again because you need to know what it is I do.

             I spent several years in the military where I served with the U. S. Special Forces (equivalent to Russia’s “Spetsnaz- “Войска специального назначения - ГРУ”) I then joined the Sheriff’s department (again, equivalent to Russia’s Федеральная служба Российской Федерации по контролю за оборотом наркотиков, ФСКН России).  I took a sabbatical shortly after the war started in Afghanistan and Iraq and joined a Private Military Company.  I spent a lot of time overseas in Afghanistan and Iraq supervising the daily operations of a training facility that specialized in the preparation of indigenous troops to conduct “Military & Law Enforcement” type operations.

             Currently I am in the states and in the position of “criminal investigator” attached to a special task force that focuses on organized crime (Like Russia’s - Полиция-Службы криминальной милиции).

             So, as to what I said, it was easy.  Although, not necessarily authorized to effect arrests, Interpol provided me with very good intelligence/information on organized criminal activity around the globe.  Therefore, I discovered, this woman, had betrayed me, and I have never contacted her again.

          I know I sound harsh but it is my heart and feelings that are at stake here.  I take a huge risk exposing myself to such a notion that a beautiful woman such as you would randomly find me on a dating web site, move to the US, and want to start a relationship with me.  I am willing to give it a shot if you can prove to me your true intentions.  As I said previously, if you can make it here on your own, I will throw all that I am into caring for you, protecting you, and even loving you. I live very comfortably near the ocean in California.  I have a great career and a great reputation and make a very good living, enough for the both of us.  I just ask for honesty.  I do not care what right or wrongs you have done, just be honest with me and we can work it out.  I know how hard things can be there and sometimes a person has to do things to survive.  I learned this from my friend’s eastern European wives; they grew up in a hard place with very little.  However, they were honest about who they were what their intentions were and found good men (my friends) to care for them and love them.  One of them (lenka) is even a nurse now and is working on becoming a doctor.

I will cherish you; just do the right thing…

Yours truly

Mike