Dear JDate,

I joined JDate because two of my friends met there and convinced (okay, pestered) me to join. So I put a profile up and waited to see what would happen.

Fast forward a few months. I had never gone to the JDate chat room before, but was curious one night and decided to check it out. I watched for a while, but didn’t say much until someone came on and asked if anyone was from the New York City area. I replied that I was from New Jersey, but worked in NYC, and was that close enough. Luckily for me, it was, and that is how I met Alison.

We chatted for a little, but it was late and she had to go to sleep. So she asked if we could meet again the next night in the chat room at 8:00 pm to talk some more, and I agreed. The next night, I logged on at 8:00 and waited. At around 8:25, I was just beginning to think she was a no-show when she logged on and quickly explained that her computer was giving her problems and that she had frantically run over to a friends apartment to use her computer. She gave me her phone number, and we spent the next few hours on the phone.

I wanted to meet her for dinner, but she was about to leave on a trip to Hong Kong for 3 weeks. We emailed each other back and forth while she was away. Finally, she came back, and we met for dinner in New York City. We had a nice dinner and walked around Times Square, and I walked her back to Penn Station and waited with her for her train to make sure she got back to Long Island. She later told me that walking her back and waiting with her was the main reason I got a second date.

That was in February of 2000. We got engaged in January of 2001, and married at the end of October 2001. At the wedding, people told me how they often see the bride “glowing,” but they were happy to see that I was “glowing” just as much.

I enjoy telling people that we met online. (Alison sometimes asks sarcastically “Where did I find you?” To which I always answer, “The Internet.”)

Thank you JDate for helping us get together and start a wonderful life.

Alison & Andrew
New Jersey