Quite simply, I joined JDate to prove my mother wrong.  She told me I should explore dating more Jewish guys to see if it felt like being with someone Jewish was important to me since I had not dated many Jewish guys previously. My plan was to try it for a month, report back to her about how miserable the selection of guys was, and then go back to finding my own “not-good-for-me and typically not-Jewish-either” guys.

I went on the site and didn’t know what to do first. I just waited for people to email me and then essentially made dates with most of them. I soon realized this was not a good strategy and that I needed to be more selective. I thought I should try my own hand and decided I should contact some people rather than wait to be contacted. I searched and searched, but there was really only one guy that jumped out at me, so I decided to just be bold and send him an email… and the rest is history!

Steve and I made plans to meet for a drink (I didn’t want to commit to a dinner date!). One drink turned into two, then we went out for dinner, then went to listen to some live music. Time flew by. When I arrived home that evening I thought to myself that it was the best first date I had ever been on. I waited by the phone for him to call, and he soon did!

We fell in love, got engaged, bought a house together, and moved in – all in 10 months! When you know, you know! Steve is my best friend. We have so much in common and had an instant connection that has lasted through seven years of marriage now and counting!

Since we’ve been married, we have had our fair share of realities and hardships. Both of my pregnancies were very high risk and taxing on us both, but becoming parents has been the greatest gift and joy we could ever receive and now we have two beautiful (redheaded!) boys who make us smile and laugh every day. Now that we have our two children, I feel like I have “the dream” and our family is complete. And we have JDate to thank!

Pam and Steve
Chicago, Illinois