First off, congratulations on your engagement! Obviously, you are each happy with how your Together Dating experience turned out.
Dale: Yes, along came Jean – the perfect match.
Why would you recommend singles try Together Dating?
Jean Ann: Together Dating treated us with dignity, respect and made the whole process seem very professional and upbeat. They were also very caring and followed up with things.
I feel very positive about matchmaking and would recommend the process, particularly to mature people who are looking for a serious long-term relationship or marriage. I think it’s a good way to do that.
Before signing up for Together Dating, what were your love lives like?
Dale: I was widowed and had never really dated.
Jean Ann: I had been widowed for about 15 years. I dated off and on. Also, I had tried in the last five years different dating sites, like eHarmony and True.
Why did you decide to sign up for the service?
Dale: Being widowed, there is plenty of laundry and housework to do. I also still work full time. So, I was busy, but I got sick of sitting and looking at four walls on the weekends. I really wanted to meet someone, but I did not want to do the bar scene.
Jean Ann: I had dated quite a few people, but I hadn’t found anybody that I considered marriage material. I was getting pretty frustrated.
Tell me about the interview process you each went through after joining Together Dating.
Dale: It was probably close to an hour. We talked about my marriage that was 47 years, and what I was looking for in a match. I tried to be very straightforward, tell them exactly what I would expect and what I thought would work for me. I felt they were helpful in putting together who Dale is.
Jean Ann: Overall, I thought they were very professional and positive. Before my interview, I put together two pages about who I was and what I looked for in a man. I took those pages in with me, and they were very appreciative of that. They did some testing. It was basic questions on preferences and personality traits. I’m sure that was helpful, too.
Next, you started receiving date referrals?
Jean Ann: I got names in the mail that gave a short description of the person and their phone number. It’s just a brief description that maybe includes a little point of interest. Like on mine, it said, “Please ask Jean Ann about whitewater rafting.”
So Together Dating provides you with an icebreaker for that first conversation with a potential date?
Jean Ann: Right, an icebreaker and a very brief description as far as age and that type of thing. I did meet three other gentlemen. Dale was the fourth name, and I was the fourth for him also.
How was your relationship with your matchmaker throughout this process?
Dale: I tried to be straightforward on why I felt I didn’t match up well with those initial referrals. I’m sure that’s one of the reasons I got eventually got Jean’s name.
So, you felt your matchmaker was responsive to your needs and suggestions?
Dale: Yes, very much.
Did you two have good first date?
Jean Ann: We had lunch together, and things just clicked right away. I knew as soon as we met and talked that I wanted to know him more. I could just tell from the kinds of things he said that he was just a kind and caring man.
We talked about our families. He has two adopted children. From the way he spoke about his relationship with them, I could tell that he would also be open to a relationship with my children.
Dale, what was your first impression of Jean Ann?
Dale: First impression when I met her – classy gal, knowledgeable, down to earth and open. We had a lot of things in common. I was feeling like a freshman.
Now here you both are less than a year later after that first date—engaged! Jean Ann, how did Dale propose?
Jean Ann: We had been looking for rings, so we had kind of started to talk about getting engaged. While we were on vacation, Dale said one day, “I have something I want to show you.” We drove up to this big mall. He said he had to go to the cash machine, so I should go over to the jewelry store and look around. I found a set I really liked. He took one look at it, and he liked it, too. He said, “Oh, that’s you Jean Ann!”
The people at the jewelry store told us that they could have the ring sized and ready for us the next day. So we came back the next day, and the sales clerk said, “Are you going to wear this, or do you want it in a box?” Dale told him in the box. I had my camera, thinking here I was going to have this big moment and take pictures in the store, and he said to put it in the box! So, that really wasn’t what I expected.
When did you get to see that ring again?
Jean Ann: Right after, we sat down in the food court and got an Orange Julius. He reached across the table, took my hand and he said, “Jean Ann, will you marry me?” When people say to me, “Where did you get engaged?” I say, “In the food court at the mall over an Orange Julius!”
I hear you will be getting married this Halloween.
Dale: Yes, it’s going to be a costume party.
Jean Ann: The Bride of Frankenstein is what I am going to be, and Dale will be the Groom Reaper.
Really?!!?
Jean Ann: No, it’s not, but we’ve taken quite a bit of ribbing about the Halloween wedding date. It was the date we could work it out with the church and family, so we just went with it.
Speaking of your family and friends, what do they think of the way you two met?
Jean Ann: There are more and more people meeting through this, and it’s because of how busy people are for one thing. So, we haven’t really had any negative responses. I know I was in a townhouse complex where it’s mostly people in their 60s and up. My neighbors are going, “Isn’t that nice!” Our kids have been really positive.
What was your favorite part about working with Together Dating?
Dale: I think they were very helpful, and I thought they really reacted to my comments on the first dates I had that I knew wouldn’t fit. They came up with Jean’s name, so in the end, it worked. If somebody asked me again is it worth it, would you do it, I would definitely say yes.
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