TRO/TD

Quick Decision Makers

Marie Boyle and Robert Larose

The night we met in May of 2006, Massachusetts was in the middle of a flood crisis. The only reason we could get together was because we both knew routes that weren't flooded. We knew right away it was a matter of when, not if.

Robert was my sixth match and I was his third. After that first night, we saw each other two or three times a week and talked every day. We spent weekends at my place. When his lease was up, he told me he wanted to move in. I told him he wasn't moving in unless he was serious. We went on a vacation in Las Vegas three months later with another couple. While we were floating in the pool on a Friday, I asked Robert what he wanted to do this weekend. He said, "Let's get married."

I said, "Are you serious?"

We married that night at the Chapel of Love in Las Vegas. The wedding was hilarious. They told us we were the only sober couple there for the last month! We bought a package for $300 that included the dress and tux, flowers, a video, photographs and the minister. I wanted a blue and white wedding so Robert wore a blue cummerbund and tie and they sprayed the white roses with a metallic blue mist. Since I didn't have the right shoes, I decided to wear just my socks. Who knew there were broken beer bottles all over the floor and that I would cut my foot?

The next morning, I could hardly walk so we sat near the sliding glass window and Robert used peroxide and tweezers to remove the slivers of glass imbedded in my foot. It didn't stop us one bit. As soon as the glass was out, we jumped right into the pool.

The only others who knew about the wedding were the couple who came with us. I couldn't reach my mother for five long days because her cell wasn't working and they didn't have a land line in their Maine home. We had a wedding celebration for 75 people at Good Harbour Gloucester, Mass., and showed the video. Everyone was laughing hysterically due to the voice of the minister.

We live in my house in North Reading near the woods. He kids me that I married him because he could fix things since he is a certified mechanic. I counter back that he married me because I had a house. Since he was a catcher and switch-hitter for the Red Sox farm team, his favorite thing to do is stay home and watch baseball on TV, especially the Red Sox. We also enjoy home improvement shows. But what I really like best is just sitting next to him and cuddling.   

Skiing and Sailing Meld Perfect Pair

Don & Sandy McLelland

Don: I went through 18 matches before I met Sandy. I dated a few women two or three times but knew they were not The Right One.

Sandy: This was the first time I had ever tried a dating service and Don was my first date. I kid that I didn't get my money's worth! But I have to admit that The Right One did a great job in finding someone with the characteristics I wanted.

Don: Sandy and I live in nearby communities about 20 minutes apart. Our first date was at a casual seafood place near Sandy's house. I didn't know if she was the right one or not but I knew I wanted to keep dating her. We had a lot in common and both love skiing and sailing. That was four years ago and we're still together.

Sandy: We were attracted to one another for the same reasons. Both of us are low-key, easy going and relaxed. On our first date, we sat in the restaurant and talked for three hours.

Don: Sandy is much more of a joiner than I am. She belonged to a sailing club and a ski club when I met her and dragged me along. I have since joined both clubs. We just returned from a two-week trip to Greece with seven other members of our sailing club. We leased a 61-foot sailboat, hired a captain and visited eight islands from Athens to Santorini. We had a great time. 

Our families get along well too and we mix them up for the holidays. We both have 94-year old dads too. Sandy has two kids and three granddaughters and I have a married daughter. We have all gone skiing in Utah and Sugar Loaf together.

Sandy: The ski club has a lodge in Jackson, NH and that's one of our favorite haunts. We go up there six or seven times a year with bits and pieces of the families. Even though the club goes year-round, we mostly ski in the winter and sail in the summer.

Walking in Love

Suzanne:

...For me, my disability isn't obvious, for him, it is. He survived polio and walks with a brace and a cane. I have MS that is the relapsing, remitting kind, the best you can have. Even though we both have mobility problems, we went to France and had a wonderful time.

We understand each other. If one of is isn't having the best day, the other one takes over. It works well. It is unusual to find.

I have never been married, but have always been in relationships. I guess I have been picking the wrong one all of this time. My mother, God rest her soul, when people would ask about me would always say, "You know she never married." I used to tell her, it's okay, this was a choice. The only thing I regret are the two kids I would have adored.

Now that we are older, I am 59 and he is 62, things are different. The pressure is off. Would I marry him if he asked tomorrow? Yes. But I don't need marriage. I am happy with my life, happy with what I have accomplished, I have done lot of traveling , I have wonderful friends, and a good job. He is a nice plus.

Maybe it is the timing, maybe not. This is different from anything I have experienced. And I know a lot about men. We laugh at the same things, eat the same things. He is the most caring person I have ever met. We are on the same page about so many things. It is a very comfortable relationship. We have fun, too, he is so witty and bright. We have dated for two years.

I never married because I was busy. Well, first I waited for a boyfriend who went to Vietnam. He came back a different person, and that wasn't going to work. Then, I decided to go back to school. In my day, you educated boys, even my twin brother got a college degree. I always wanted one. My parents weren't bad, that was just their world and I accepted it. Then I took care of my Mom for ten years. It was a priority. Now it is my time.

I had a friend I worked with who had been single for a long time. She was older like me and she met her husband with The Right One. When you are older, you have a house and property, it is a risk dating people. With online dating, all people need is an email address. They could be in jail; you know nothing about them except what they tell you. Lots of people lie. The Right One does criminal background checks. I work in law, and that is important to me. I had a lot of faith in them, and they never steered me wrong. You get what you pay for. When that other person pays, too, there is a commitment to having a relationship.

For Mom's sake, I said, let me give it one more try. I am very pleased.

Shall we Dance?

Norman Johansen sat with his broken leg on a first meeting, trying to convince a music teacher that he loved to dance. He even pulled out not one, but two, pairs of dancing shoes. As soon as the protective boot was off, he tossed down his crutches and gave Jodi an old-fashioned twirl on the living room floor. Jodi loves to twirl. This two-years and strong couple are now taking ballroom dancing classes and are reported to be quite graceful.

On their first date, Norman asked Jodi to come to his house, quite unusual, as most couples meet in neutral settings. Due to his inability to drive, and Jodi's assumption that she could always out run him, she went. Seven hours later, from noon to seven, Jodi realized the time had flown and she had met someone just like her.

The next week, he figured out how to drive left-footed and attended her school's music concert. Jodi teaches music and choir. Wen she first rode in his truck, he popped in a CD of a musical. She asked if he was just trying to impress her, but no, he could prove that the recording was not a new one! For this musical lady, a wide range of musical tastes is a requirement. Part of her job is finding new music and new musicians to play for her students.

In their first lengthy meeting, it was like a meeting of minds. Both enjoy the outdoors, both love music, both like to garden, do Sudoku puzzles, and they are both terrible with names. They even had similar ex-spouses, and now joke about the types of criticism both used to receive. They like to look at the stars, walk in the woods, and kayak.

Yet, Jodi is go, go, go and the equally energetic Norman can slow down her world to a delightful stop. On Friday nights, the two of them light candles, drink some wine, listen to music, dance if a good slow one comes on, and mostly, talk and laugh. In Jodi's family, a good party is measured by the number of laughs, and Norman makes a party of two.

Their families love each other. Jodi just got a trip to her family homeland of Ireland, courtesy of Norman's daughter who invited this fun companion. While there, Jodi picked up a Celtic drum and a tin whistle she practiced playing in the car.

Jodi first heard about The Right One through a mailing she received. At the time, she was still in graduate school and not ready for a relationship. With diploma in hand, she signed up for the service. She was looking for someone full of life, and found him.

Today, their song is, "Shall we dance?" from the King and I. They will soon wear out their dancing shoes, but not the fun they are having.

Life Two by Two

Linda's story..

Each had two, a boy and a girl, all nearly the same ages. When they first began dating, Linda and Dale had to meet for lunch. Linda's only night free was the Wednesday night Dale had his kids, and they swapped children on opposing weekends.

However, lunch had its advantages, a limited time and a comfortable setting. The time is long enough to gage chemistry, but not too long to drag on. Still, Dale and Linda both found themselves revealing far more than they would have in an ordinary luncheon. It is something Linda uses to tease Dale.

For many dates, the two met at high noon, then afterwards compared Blackberries for another meeting. Two busy professionals getting together. It wasn't long before Dale had asked his ex-wife to shift weekends. Apparently Dale had figured things out before Linda, but soon enough she arrived at the same place. The two are now married and share a home, kids, and a life she describes as a party.

Linda is a professional woman and didn't want to endure the Internet dating scene. She heard one story at work about a man who met a woman in a coffee shop. When he asked why she was so different from her picture, she replied that she posted her daughter's picture because people said they looked alike.

She actually heard about The Right One from a contractor building an extra bedroom for her mom onto the house. Intrigued and a bit impulsive, Linda was signed up by evening time. Not to sound snobbish, but Linda felt that the fee The Right One charges eliminate "the losers," leaving her with someone like Dale to choose.

The couple dated a year, were engaged a year, and have been married about a year. Their blended family, well, "they certainly act like siblings." said Linda.