JDate has renewed the possibilities in my life that I had almost given up on.

On Sunday March15 th, I was home alone waiting for a phone call from a guy I was sort of dating. As a usual occurrence, the phone did not ring. I was really upset and very frustrated! Many of my friends suggested I try JDate again after having tried it in the past without any success. After many of hours of waiting for the phone to ring, I said to myself, I am going to join for one month and prove everybody wrong.

To my surprise, the following day a very handsome man checked out my profile. His profile sounded amazing. We seemed to have many things in common. For instance, his profile picture showed him snowboarding and I had just taken up snowboarding! He seemed to be athletic, and so am I. He is a Sagittarius, and so am I. We are both from New England, and so are our entire families. Since I was a small girl, I spent the summers in Maine with my grandparents and aunt and uncle. As it turns out, he also spent his summers and some winters in Maine. It is a very special place for me, so it excited me to discover that he was from that area as well. It made me feel instantly connected to him. Everything sounded so perfect, and I had not even met him yet!

I decided to message him to see if he would be interested in getting to know me. He responded immediately, and after a few instant messages, we decided to meet for the first time. One week later, on Sunday, March 22nd, we met for sushi in West Hills, California. This was the beginning of our endless journey.

We had a great time and decided to go out again, although I was afraid to get my hopes up. We had our second date the following Friday at a Mexican restaurant. Again, we had a great time and decided to go out that Sunday. This was when the magic began.

He picked me up at my apartment, and we went for dinner down by the beach. Later, I invited him back to my apartment to enjoy a dessert that I made for him. Only problem was, I made strawberry shortcake, and he is allergic to strawberries! We eliminated the strawberries, solved the problem and still laugh at this today. We spent the rest of the evening talking, laughing and watching TV. He was a complete gentleman. We ended up watching reruns of The Brady Bunch for three hours. Sounds kind of strange, but it was amazing.

I knew that night we were going to be together forever, and from then on, we were inseparable. We saw each other almost every day. I couldn’t believe this was happening to me. I remember hearing an interview on a talk radio show about relationships and why people stay in them when they are not working. The radio announcer said in a matter of fact tone, “It doesn’t need to be that difficult.” That stuck with me. I truly understood what he was saying. If somebody wants to be with you, they will make the time and do what is necessary. That is the way it was with Drew. He wanted to be with me, go places with me, and share my life. We were so compatible and didn’t want to be apart, so we decided to move in together after only four months together.

There was one condition to our living together though. I had to get the OK from a very special bulldog named Dakota. From the moment I met her, she was and is my little baby. The three of us moved in together and continued our love story.

On February 27th, 2011, Drew took me to Flemings Steakhouse and asked to spend the rest of our lives together. I was elated and said yes immediately. I still remember exactly what he said, “Karen Elaine Shear, will you marry me? I love you and I want to marry you.”  We planned our wedding for August 28th, 2011.

In only 6 months, we had our wedding at the Hidden Chateau and Gardens in West Hills, California. It was a beautiful garden wedding. The rabbi that married was also the rabbi at both of my brothers’ bar mitzvahs and my mom’s funeral. It was very special having him officiate the wedding. He and his wife stayed for the entire reception, even though they are 87 and 86, respectively. The entire day was like a fairy tale. Now we are continuing our life long journey.

Karen and Drew
Calabasas, California

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