Is LOVE staring you in the face?

These two women found that true love was in front of them all along

- KATE GRAHAM

'IT TOOK ME 17 YEARS TO REALISE I'D ALREADY FOUND THE LOVE OF MY LIFE'

Lynne Page, 50, a travel agent, lives in Grantham, Lincolnshire, with husband Gary, 50, a warehouse driver.

With fireworks exploding and tears in my eyes, I was overwhelmed with happiness.

It was New Year's Eve 2011 and I'd proposed to the man I loved - two years after our first date, but almost two decades after we'd met.

I first saw Gary at a club with my friend Sarah. It was July 1992, I was 21, and I spotted this good-looking but quiet guy hanging out with Sarah's boyfriend Adrian.

I'd always liked chatty boys, so when Adrian said Gary fancied me, I thought he wasn't my type, though I'd often see him on nights out with Sarah, who I worked with in a bank in Newark.

Gary was a quiet guy in his younger days

In 1994, I got a new job at a different branch, and didn't see Gary any more - until September 1999, when I was 28 and chief bridesmaid at Sarah and Adrian's wedding. Gary was an usher and looked cute in his suit. I tried to chat, but he was as shy as ever, so I just danced with friends.

I never did get lucky in love - online dating was a disaster. And even though I had great friends and a busy life, I was lonely.

'I felt a flutter when he asked for my number'

In 2006, aged 35, I was on a friend's hen do when I spotted a familiar face across the dance floor. Gary wasn't as shy as before and as we caught up, I felt a flutter when he asked for my number. As we hugged goodbye, I hoped he'd call. But then, nothing.