There were so many reasons we shouldn’t have met, and only one reason we did: JDate. Our wedding was on New Year’s Eve; we met almost three years ago when a click and a witty IM session led to the rest of our lives. I was sure he was: A) too cute for me B) too kid-less for me and C) as geographically undesirable as could be; New York (Me) to DC (Barry).

However, our first chats led to texting, which led to video chatting, which led to a casual meeting on Long Island in May 2011. After that, Amtrak became a more frequently used app on our iPhones as the JDate app went untouched and eventually deleted.

Barry is a Commander in the Naval Reserves (how many liberal, VW van-driving Jews can say that?), and I’m a PR exec and mom of two living on LI and commuting daily into NYC. Believe it or not, our pieces fit perfectly together; we both married non-Jews the first time and wanted something more. Barry wasn’t able to have children in his first marriage and I was raising my two boys with no man in the house.

Now, Barry works from home and is there when the boys come home from school. After looking for a job for a year, Barry found a great opportunity, moved to New York (after two years together), and changed all of our lives by turning our house into a home filled with laughter, joy, love and SportsCenter! The boys thrive on his love and his “boy-ness,” and our love is, well, worth waiting 40 years to find. Our wedding was a celebration of “New Beginnings” and as the clock strikes 12 each New Year’s Eve, I’ll be kissing my Prince Charming because a modern family fairytale is being written in our house every day.

We were married at The Community Synagogue — where I was Bat Mitzvahed and confirmed, and where my son will become a Bar Mitzvah in June. The night was perfect, but this time around it’s about the marriage and the rest of our lives for both of us.  We were joined on the bimah by our boys. And we walked down the aisle together to the song, “Detours” by Sheryl Crow. The lyrics opened my JDate profile:

Now what do I do

With the sweet love of mine

Do I give it away and

Hope someday I’ll find

Someone half as awake

As the moon and the stars

Mother, teach me to love

With a paper-thin heart

Thank you JDate for being the first click in our modern romance and love story, it never would have happened without you.

Lauren and Barry
Port Washington, New York