I am thrilled to be writing this JDate success story essay today.  Meeting David has been the most wonderful experience of my life and I look forward to our upcoming wedding and our future together with happy anticipation.

I was a jaded Internet dating “expert” in May of 2010. I had been off and on several dating websites, including JDate, for the better part of 12 years.  I met some nice people, went on fun dates and even had a few relationships that lasted for a while, but there was never that big connection or a love that was drama and compromise free.  I was hitting dating burn-out big time.  My JDate subscription would be up for renewal in July and I had pretty much decided that it was time to step out of the dating world for awhile. It wasn’t happening, I wasn’t really meeting anyone and I was at the point where I didn’t think I ever would. While I was still a hopeful romantic, I thought true love, soul mates and finding your Beshert were ideas that belonged in the fairytale books.

David was ready to date again after escaping from a bad rebound relationship following a bad divorce and his family and friends convinced him to look toward the Internet, although he was a skeptic.  He created a brief profile on JDate so he could browse and see who was out there.

When David’s profile popped up on my screen, my interest was immediately peaked.  His pictures were so handsome and he was tall; the one thing I know is really unimportant in the long run, but which I find so vey attractive.  I was hesitant to write to him, however, because in my experience, when I found a guy’s pictures really attractive – they would never write back to me.  After reading his profile, he seemed too good to be true.  We had many of the same interests and desires but the clincher was the theater.  I have been acting and directing in community theater for over 25 years, so when I read that he worked at a live theater, I had to at least try to connect with him.

I wrote a short – very short – note.  I asked “What theater do you work at?” and hit send.  I wasn’t about to write more – to put any heart or soul or hope into a letter because I knew he wouldn’t write back….and he didn’t – for about a week and a half.  It turns out David had seen my profile on his first day on JDate and was very interested, but didn’t pursue me because he was slightly younger than the age range I had listed on my profile. When he got my letter, he actually had to subscribe to JDate so he could open it and write back to me (I was the first and only woman he spoke to). That first letter exchange led to an evening of instant messages, then a phone call, then meeting for dessert a few days later.

I have no idea what we talked about during that first date.  David still teases me about how I stirred but did not eat any of my sundae.  I just remember looking across the table all evening and thinking “Wow, I really like this guy.”  We left the restaurant when it closed and took a walk.  I took his hand first, he asked me for a second date and when we stopped under an old fashioned streetlight and I looked up at him the moment could not have been any more perfect for a first kiss.  The fact that it was 9:30pm in Anaheim, California means that as we kissed, the Disneyland fireworks were going off over our heads; romance at its finest.

Our relationship moved steadily from there.  “I love you’s” were said within a week.  I think the feelings were there that first night.  We met each other’s family and friends. I learned very quickly that the idea of true love, soul mates and finding your Beshert, things I was too cynical to believe in before, were real, powerful and so very worth waiting for.

David proposed to me nine months after we met and we will be getting married on March 18, 2012.  His 17-year-old son will be his best man and his 15-year-old daughter will be my maid of honor.  We will be having a Jewish/Scottish wedding complete with chuppah and kilts, bagpipes and the horah…and lots of friends and family. Could anything be more perfect?

Thank you JDate for bringing us to where we were meant to be.

Karla and David
Hawaiian Gardens, California