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‘In love there’s no hiding: You have to let someone know who you are, but I didn’t have a clue who I was from one moment to the next.’

An A-student, a striving employee and a loyal friend, Terri Cheney is the sort of person who seems to have it all together. But, beneath her glowing facade, she faced the highs and lows of bipolar disorder. She kept her mental illness separated from her personal and professional lives, but she could not conceal this part of herself when it came to dating.

After Terri’s essay, we peek into another story: the romance of Dave and Janelle Funchess. When they met, he knew he wanted to date her. For a while it didn’t happen, because she was with someone else. He was patient and persistent, until she said yes.

Today’s stories

• “Take Me as I Am, Whoever I Am,” Terri Cheney

• “He Had a ‘Hunch’ They’d Get Hitched,” Judy Mandell

Hosted by: Anna Martin
Produced by: Julia Botero, Hans Buetow, Christina Djossa, Elyssa Dudley and Anna Martin
Edited by: Sara Sarasohn
Engineered by: Dan Powell
Theme Music by: Dan Powell
Original Music by: Dan Powell
Read by: Kirsten Potter
Written by: Terri Cheney
Founder, Modern Love: Daniel Jones
Editor, Modern Love Projects: Miya Lee

Special thanks: Dave and Janelle Funchess, Mahima Chablani, Nell Gallogly, Julia Simon, Jeffrey Miranda and Anna Diamond at Audm.

Want more from Modern Love? Read past stories. Watch the TV series and sign up for the newsletter. We also have swag at the NYT Store and two books, “Modern Love: True Stories of Love, Loss, and Redemption” and “Tiny Love Stories: True Tales of Love in 100 Words or Less.”