It was the evening of September 8th, 2012 when Ben (chac0807) had just returned home from dinner with his family. He had relocated to California from Denver just two weeks before. Alisa (kodasunshine) was sitting on her couch enjoying a nice quiet evening with her family. Both of them had signed up for JDate, but having little success in the past, both Alisa and Ben were about to cancel their accounts.

That evening Ben was searching through the different people and looking at their profiles. When he reached Alisa’s JDate profile, it caught his eye. She not only looked like a beautiful girl, but she also had many of the characteristics listed in her profile that were important to him. She was a couple years older than him, but he decided to send her a message anyway. After Alisa accepted his message, the two began to have a conversation. One of the first questions Ben asked was if the 120-mile distance between them would present a problem; Ben lived in San Diego and Alisa in Los Angeles. She answered that anything can work… with the right person!

Alisa and Ben quickly became friends on Facebook and were constantly texting each other. They talked for five hours the first night through text messaging, by Facebook, and on JDate. Finally at 2:30am, they decided it was time for them to finally go to bed. Secretly, both Ben and Alisa knew they had something special going. For the next few days they texted all the time, talked on Facetime via their iPhones, and were simply inseparable.

The following Saturday Alisa and Ben met for dinner in the Los Angeles suburb of Sherman Oaks. They went to a nice Italian dinner, had great conversation, and talked for 14 hours straight. Needless to say, it was not a typical first date. They even joked with their friend about running to Las Vegas to elope!

The following Monday was Rosh Hashanah and Alisa took the train to meet Ben’s family. Ben and Alisa both knew they loved each other, but were nervous to tell each other on the second date. Ben had been giving subtle hints all day long. Finally, Alisa said they should say, “I love you” together. Alisa left for a family wedding in northern California after this date, but the following Monday they were able to see each other again. From then on, the two saw each other once a week until Ben moved to Los Angeles in October of 2012 for a new job. The rest is history.

Alisa and Ben are soul mates; their love continues to grow every day and they look forward to a wonderful life together.

P.S. Their only advice for other JDaters® out there is to be persistent – and always chase what you want. You will find it, but it just takes time!

Alisa and Ben
Calabasas, California