Matchmaker Success

Together Dating ~ Beatrice & Cline

”During our date, I was so shy. Usually, I’m the one speaking, and we talked for about three hours, and it was supposed to be a one-hour date. After that, we walked to the parking lot and continued to talk and I knew I was going to marry him; I knew I was going to do it.”

Beatrice, how was your dating life before you joined Together Dating?
Before joining Together Dating, I couldn’t find what I really wanted. I was dating, but I was really lonely and I needed somebody who could share the same interests. The reason I joined was to meet someone who could love me as much as I could love him.

What was your opinion of matchmakers and dating sites before you tried this service?
I looked at online dating sites and they wanted me to pay some money, but I was a little scared because I didn’t know where the money was going; I didn’t know what type of people I would meet. I went online and then I went to the Together Dating Service site, and I liked it.

How did you hear about Together Dating?
I got a flyer from Together Dating. It’s weird. Before I joined, I really didn’t know what to expect, so I put it aside; a year later when I was tired of dating people from the nightclubs and things like that, I decided to go online and see what it was all about. I liked it, and I filled out a flyer and called a counselor, and I made an appointment and I went to their office.

How did you like working with them?
I loved the counselor. His name was Richie, and he was great. I really didn’t know what to expect; I was so scared and he made me feel comfortable. I knew that there were other people like me, looking to find somebody to spend the rest of their life with. I felt really, really comfortable working with him. I really don’t spend my money like that, but because of the way he was talking to me, he made me realize that I was losing a little bit of money compared to what I would get.

How does the interview process work?
They greet you and you sit down and fill out some paperwork. You really don’t know what you’re filling out until you get into the room with them and sit down and start talking. So what you will fill out is actually a profile of who you are after which they will rate everything, I think on a scale from 0 to 10. Basically, you’re filling out the information blind, because if they tell you what you’re filling out, you will tend to fill it out differently. So if you don’t know what you’re filling out, the answers you give will be the best answers and those that really describe who you are.

So I did that. I sat down and talked to the counselor and he gave me advice. I was telling him what I like and don’t like, the person I want to meet, and how I want that person to be, and we took it from there. He told me how much it would cost and it took one to two hours because he was really listening to me. I said I wasn’t in a rush and would take my time, and he said even if it was going to take three hours, he was going to sit there and wait for me. I really liked that.

Tell me about meeting Cline. Who made the initial contact?
That was the best part. Usually, when I meet somebody, I judge him or her the first time we meet. We were supposed to meet at Cline’s, and I called him and he wasn’t home. As soon as he got home, he called me back and we went to his house, which was five minutes away from my house. We were supposed to meet at the halfway point, but he was so nice that he met me all the way to where I lived. When we met, as soon as I saw him, I knew that I was going to really like him.

Describe your first date. How did it go?
He was there an hour before I got there, because he was so nervous. We sat down and he asked me what I wanted to drink. I usually don’t drink, but I said I wanted a Margarita. And he got a drink himself, and when we sat down, and he spilled the drink because he was so nervous. And he had to clean it. So I told him not to worry about it, and we started talking and he asked me how old I was, even though he had been given my age. He told me a little bit about himself, and I did the same. He told me where he was working, and he told me about his daughter.

I felt a little uncomfortable because I didn’t want to meet somebody who had a child, but I knew about her before I met him. So I didn’t really tell how I felt; I just let it go, and we started talking, and we saw that we had a lot of things in common. I was nervous and yet so happy that I had met someone who was so nice.

During our date, I was so shy that I kept looking down, and I don’t do that. Usually, I’m the one speaking, and we talked for about three hours, and it was supposed to be a one-hour date. After that, we walked to the parking lot and continued to talk and I knew I was going to marry him; I knew I was going to do it.

What was your first impression of Cline?
He had a nice smile and I liked the way he carried himself. You can tell when somebody is really nice and gentle, and you can tell by the way the person stands and the way the person greets you and the way the person looks at you. I think that is what really attracted me.

What do your friends think about how you two met?
I told some friends that I met him through a dating site; other friends, I don’t tell them that, because I don’t want them to know what is going on in my life. The people who know are very surprised, because people don’t usually have a good experience with dating sites. And I was lucky to find somebody that I loved after only having dated three people through Together Dating.

So I think they’re happy for me. They’re happy and surprised, because they don’t see it that often. You usually don’t meet the people you want to meet; you meet other people that you don’t like. So it’s very rare, that’s what they said, to meet somebody you love when you use a dating site.

How would you describe your life together now? What do you two do for fun?
We go to the movies, we love sightseeing, and we do a lot of traveling. And that’s what I always wanted to do; we take the car and go to Williamsburg, and go around and just see things. We love to cook together and invite friends over. We go out to eat. We go to the beach and swim; we like swimming. Right now I’m taking classes too, so what I love about it is, he goes with me to school. He drives me to school and waits for me at school, and when I’m done we meet up together. I mean, you can’t find a man like that. He is very nice. And after two years, he’s the same; he hasn’t changed. I love him.

Do you talk about the future?
Oh, yes we do, and it’s funny because we were talking about the future after six months, which I don’t do. I said I want to get to know the person before we talk about the future, because I’m very nervous. And I’m a little difficult and I want things to be my way. But after six months, we started talking about the future and we said we want kids. We talked about the bank accounts we’re going to have and how many. He already has a daughter and he just bought a condo, so I decorated the condo, and I’m going to move in. Everything is already set. And he hasn’t complained that I’m too bossy or anything; everything is fine.

Do you have any advice for others searching for love via Together Dating?
I’m going to tell them not to give up. It’s really hard to find love, but the best thing about Together Dating is that when you meet somebody for the first time, they will send you that piece of paper and you tell them what you like and don’t like. I think people should be honest and tell them what you want. Do not put something that other people want you to be; put what you really want, and they will make sure they find somebody for you. And if it doesn’t work the second time, write down what you didn’t like and what you liked, and they’ll narrow the search until you find the person you want. When I started, I think I was a little intimidated, so I said I was going to date everybody that I could: White, Black, Asian. But I realized that I don’t get along with those other people. I get along with Caucasian men and that’s my type. So I wrote that down and that was the first person that I met, and that was the right person. So I think people should not be shy or intimidated. You tell them what you want and they will get it for you.

Together Dating ~ Annette & Paul

”My life now could not be better. Annette is everything I ever wanted. She means the world to me!.”

Describe your dating life before you joined Together Dating?
Annette: I didn’t have much of a dating life before Together. I tried the online sites but I’m not a person who sits at the computer all the time, so it really didn’t help me much.

Paul:  It wasn’t great. I tried to meet people, but none of the methods worked.

What inspired you to try Together Dating?
Annette: Actually I’m at a point in my life where I want my own family, as I’m very family oriented, but as I look around I find that I’m the only one who is not married and I don’t have any kids. I was helping everybody else when I really wanted to help myself. Together Dating sent something in the mail and one day as I was driving; I actually saw a sign of theirs. I thought it wouldn’t hurt to at least go and see what they’re offering.

Paul: I saw the sign on the way home from work and thought, “Why not?” I was tired of being by myself, so I decided to take a chance.

How did you like working with them?
Annette: I thought they were very professional. They made me feel very relaxed and I honestly felt having that connection with another person helped as opposed to the online websites – you don’t get that. You don’t get someone who is willing to listen to you as you’re telling them your life story or love story.

Paul: I thought working with Together was great. They really listened to what you had to say.

How does the interview process work?
Annette: It was very relaxed, very easy and it felt like I was talking to a friend over lunch, although we were in the office. It felt very easy for me to open up to the young lady who interviewed me. It lasted about 1 to 1 ½ hours. I think it depends on how much you talk. First you fill out a questionnaire, and then they call you back into the office and you just talk to them. What kind of person are you looking for, how long have you been looking, why have you not found that person you’re looking for, etc. After the interview process, they ask you if you want to continue, if you are ready to invest in your love life, that sort of thing. And that’s when the background check comes in. I signed up for two years worth of introductions.

Paul:  First, you fill out a profile (about you and the person you are looking for). Then, you have a conference with a consultant.

Tell me about meeting Paul, who made the initial contact?
Annette: He did, and although this is the 21st century, there are still some things that I won’t bend on, and calling a guy is one of them. So I insisted that he call. Actually you get their paperwork, which includes their profile, and I thought he sounded like an interesting person. It actually took him a month and a half to call me. You’re not really in a relationship but you’re going out with people to see if it will work and if it doesn’t or if you’re just really friends then you have the option of continuing on with someone else. So at that point, he was actually dating someone and it didn’t work out, so he thought he’d call me.

How many people did you meet before you met Paul?
Annette:  Five and actually there were two people after him. So I would have to say eight, but he was number six.

Tell me about your first date.
Annette: We stayed locally for me and that was a first, because most of the guys were from Maryland and I had to drive quite a ways to meet some of them. So he was the first one to insist on coming to me, and I’m in Virginia. I was very impressed by that and actually I was surprisingly on time for the date, considering I’m never on time for anything. I thought it was going to be interesting. And we had dinner. You can have the option of just meeting for coffee or actually going out on a date. So we just met for dinner and we just talked for two hours straight about anything and everything.

Paul: My first date with Annette was on November 17th at King Street Blues in Crystal City. I had never been there so I had no problem meeting her there. When I first saw her, I thought to myself, “I hope that is her!” I thought she was pretty. I was so nervous. We sat and talked for hours getting to know each other.

What was your first impression of each other?
Annette: I thought he was very nice, very caring, a good listener, but I could tell he was nervous. We talk about this today, I tell him I didn’t understand some of what he was saying because he was talking too fast. I know now that when he gets nervous that’s what he does. He talks really fast. We went on to actually become engaged, I’m happy to say…

Paul:  I thought she was great, very smart, and a good listener.

Can you tell me about the proposal?
Annette: It was my birthday, so it just happened a couple of months ago. I knew he had the ring and I could feel that he was going to come around to it, but when and where I wasn’t too sure. So I just told him whenever he felt comfortable to just do it. So he waited until around ten at night and we were eating pizza. So there’s no romance in that, but he was comfortable.

What do your friends think about how you two met?
Annette: Actually, the way Paul and I met did not surprise any of them. My friends know people who have done that [dating service] and have been successful or met on the Internet and they’re successful as well. The hardest thing was trying to explain it to my parents. Here we are in the 21st century, and I had to go to Together Dating in order to find him because it wasn’t working on my own.
Paul:  My friends are glad that I have someone who loves and understands me!

How do your parents feel about Paul?
Annette: Oh, they like him. They really do like him. When we have family functions they’re always asking where Paul is or if he is coming. It’s getting kind of hard for us because we’re trying to split our time between the two families. We were talking about it this weekend, how are we going to do the holidays when they come up after we are married?

How would you describe your life together now?
Annette: I’m very happy. I always tell the story, I teach 10th through 12th grade High School classes, and before I met Paul my career was really where I was focused, and after a while you start to become complacent and that’s normally not me but there wasn’t anything to really occupy my time at that point. It was basically being with my family or work. And after I met Paul, and we were going out, even my students knew something was up. I wouldn’t tell them my personal business, but they knew something was going on because they said I just seemed so happy. I would let a lot of things they would do slide. This is who I am, and this is how I should be anyway. I think he brought that part of me out again.

Paul: It could not be better. She is everything I ever wanted. She means the world to me

What do you two do for fun?
Annette: As a matter of fact, yesterday we were coming back from Williamsburg, Virginia and he suggested that we stop at a go-cart place. I haven’t been on a go-cart nor seen a go-cart since I was eight. I said, “Okay, I’ll go.” And it was so much fun, we went go-cart racing, we played miniature golf and we went to the arcade. We’re in our late 30s but we still act like we are in high school. I really do appreciate being in a relationship that is mature yet fun and exciting!

What are your future plans?
Annette: We decided to stay in Virginia. Right now we do have some possibilities of moving into a house or a condo. We’re trying to figure it out because he just graduated from the university, and at this point, he has a job but he’s trying to find a better job. So I’m just giving him time, but the wedding is in April, so he doesn’t have that much time.

Do you have any advice for others who are searching for love via the Together Dating?
Annette: It actually works. The thing about it is that you just have to keep an open mind, and if you need help, if you need someone to talk to, they’re always willing to be there for you to talk to them. There were some times when I thought, “I don’t think this is working; I’m not seeing the benefit. What do I do?” And the one thing the lady told me was to give it time.

Paul: Try it. It does work and Annette and I are proof!

Together Dating ~ Lynda & Scott

“Doors open and close,” and at that time a door closed for me, and then Scott walked into my life and then it opened again."

Describe your dating life before you joined Together Dating?
Lynda: I had just gotten out of a five-year marriage. So at the age of 25 up until 30, I was confused. Things didn’t go very well, and when I decided to finally divorce, I was quite shaken up, upset, disappointed, depressed, and my dating was very sporadic. I would try to go out but I’d not have fun and, of course, I had a ticking clock. I was 30, so I wanted to get on with my life—hopefully a new and challenging, bright and cheery one, because the past was not so bright and cheery. I was looking for something new and exciting to happen for me.

Scott: Non-existent.

What was your opinion of matchmakers and online dating sites before you tried Together Dating?
Lynda: I tried doing the newspaper before I joined Together Dating. I looked in the paper’s personals in our hometown. It was just something like “Love Lives for the Weekend,” and you would call up someone in the paper. I tried that for a bit. It was very sketchy; I got scared, to be truthful, with that. I had a few ups and downs with it and I thought, “Oh, this is not going very well.”

I started looking at other possibilities besides the paper and the Internet. I really didn’t want to try video dating, and I guess that’s what struck me with Together Dating. They said they would interview you, but not put it on videotape; the videotapes just didn’t seem exciting to me. I wanted something a little more personal, and that’s what I got out of Together Dating.

I saw the commercials and made the step toward going to Together Dating and challenging myself to actually join and pay the money. That was another big issue, as at that time it was a pricing commitment and the paper and the Internet were not. Online sites were like $6.00 a month and the paper was nothing, you could just open up the paper and call somebody and then meet.

Scott: Skeptical.

When did you try Together Dating—how long ago?
Lynda: I was in the process of looking in February 1996, so we’re talking 12 years ago. My marriage had broken up and the divorce was final by January, but my so-called ex was out of the house six months prior to that.

What inspired you to try Together Dating?
Scott: I wanted a companion and all of my friends were getting married. I felt like a third wheel.

How did you like working with them?
Lynda: It was wonderful. They were very calm and very loving and that’s what I was hoping to get out of the program. I was hoping to get love, and they made me feel loved. They were very excited to have me come into the office. It wasn’t all about money. It was just, “Come on in and let’s just talk about our program and what we can do for you.” I just felt loved; there was no commitment at that point. It was, “Come in and let’s talk about you and see what your interests are and you’re your goals are and what you want out of life.” It felt like they were tuning into me, and my problems and that made it more exciting to me. I was like, “Wow, they really care about me.”

Scott: I felt at ease.

How does the interview process work?
Lynda: I actually went into their office, and I think it was even a three hour-long process. I filled out paperwork, and beforehand I was even told to bring a scenario of what I was looking for so I wasn’t groping, “What do I want out of a man?” because that was a question. So I had already made a three page list of what I wanted and didn’t want and I was very specific because obviously I already had what I didn’t want and I knew what I did want. I was ready for marriage. I wasn’t going into this and come out without a marriage. I was looking for the long-term goal.

Scott: I asked for a specific range of ladies.

Who made the initial contact?
Lynda: I had an opportunity to meet six men and Scott was my third. When the third referral came up, they gave me his scenario, and he didn’t match my criteria, and I was very specific about what I was looking for. My range was 28 to 38 and here I was 30, and he was 28. What made it work for me was that he called me and I was already so delighted. I received the paper and he called me the next day and I thought, “Yes, this is exciting that I didn’t have to be the pusher and call first.”

Tell me about your first date.
Lynda: He wanted something comfortable so we settled for a lunch date. I teach Spanish, so he picked me up at the university where I was working. We went to a downtown restaurant, very open, and we had a wonderful lunch for about an hour. We both had something to do until about 7:00, so after 2:00 we both had to get on with our days and we decided to meet again that evening.

I had a house that had been burglarized because I wasn’t living in it. I was staying with my parents and I had bought a TV, and he had a truck, and the wheels were turning, and I was thinking that maybe he could bring that TV to my house. And on top of that, he met my parents that night, since I had told him, “Oh, my parents are probably not going to be home,” but they were. So he had to meet and greet my parents very quickly on this very first date of meeting me only five hours earlier.

So we picked up the TV, put it in his truck and took it over to the house. He even set it up for me and I believe we sort of passed out on the couch until one or two in the morning. I think we had a little intimate moment that very same night, early in the morning before he left. I’m thinking, “I really care for this guy and I think he’s really cool,” and I wasn’t going to let go. I thought I had scared him away that night. He had a little rented place and he finally made the move to try Together Dating because he had decided he wanted to find somebody, but slowly. But I think it happened a bit quicker than he expected.

So I kept calling and going over to his place. I just decided that I was going to continuously hang onto him and hey, if he could only see me at this time, I went over to his place; if he could only see me at his worksite, I went over there. I don’t know if it was called “hounding” him or not. My husband Scott, the poor thing, had bought 12 dates from Together Dating, not thinking that the first one he met would be it. He jokes that he still feels that the program owes him!

By October, we had finally decided we were stuck on each other, but there was one little thing that I knew that was holding us back. I’m 30-something years old and I was never baptized and that means I really didn’t have a denomination. Scott is seriously with his Lutheran Church. He grew up with it in elementary school and went for four years to a private Evangelical Lutheran School. So we were at a Chinese restaurant and he said, “There is just one little thing.” I said, “It’s the religion, isn’t it?” He said, “Well, yes.” I said, “That’s not a problem. What do you want me to do? That’s not going to stop us.” So I decided to take the six months’ training in his church to become baptized and joining his church. So I did this in October or November, and it wasn’t until October that following year that he actually proposed to me.

Scott: I was nervous but excited. We had a connection the first part of the day and decided to meet again in the evening.

What was your first impression of each other?
Lynda: Geeky—he was geeky. He looked lanky and tall and that was another thing. I’m 5’ 3” so I really wanted somebody 6 foot or under, and he claimed to be 6’1”. When I saw him, I thought, “Oh, my gosh—here’s this tall, thin guy.” That was the first thing that came to my mind, that he’s kind of geeky. But then obviously after that, looks didn’t matter to me. To tell you the truth, you had asked about my dating past and it would have to be, well, I’m a Spanish teacher, so I’m thinking more Latin lovers—Latin, Mexican; I was in Spain for two years and thought I would meet my love there and never did. So yes, I certainly thought I was going to be with a Latin lover. Oh and this guy doesn’t have a lick of Spanish in him.

Scott: I liked the way she was built. That was an in for me.

What do your friends think about how you two met?
Lynda: Typically, the question was, “Wow! You guys met through Together Dating, that agency?” That’s usually the question I get: “That dating agency? It really works?” I say, “Yeah, I met my husband through a dating service,” and they’re like, “Really, that works?” It really did for us.

Scott: A bit strange that I paid money for dates.

Can you tell me how Scott proposed?
Lynda: It was the most romantic thing ever! He had already bought my ring. He took it with him to the Bahamas because we had a deal to stay down there for two days on a boat and five days altogether. So this is very exciting to me. I was with a guy I really, really love and I made fun of him in a piano bar. I had the guys make up a song about a guy who was afraid to ask me to marry him. It had been a year and a half, because we met in March, 1996 and it was October, 1997. He was going to ask me on the ship on our two days to The Bahamas. So we were on the boat, under the stars, and he pulls out the ring and says, “It’s come to the time where I think our two lives need to join together into one.” I thought, “Oh my God!” It was just so exciting! On my ring finger I wore a dumpy little $90.00 diamond, because I had to have something on that finger. I had worn it for three years, this dinky ring. So I took it off and threw it into the ocean, and what do you think he thought? He thought I had taken his ring and thrown it! He was panicking, thinking I threw it…he was like, “What!?” I said, “I’m throwing that little dinky ring, honey. It’s okay.” He was about half ready to jump in. I said, “I just threw that one away and put on yours.” It was so romantic, so awesome, and then we got off the boat and I called my mom and told her that he asked.

What was your wedding like?
Lynda: Absolutely wonderful. We had about 300 to 500 people at the wedding. It was a pretty big wedding. I had five-plus bridesmaids, plus my sister, who was my Maid of Honor, so six. And he had to be in white—that was his thing. He had always dreamed of being in white. I wore a gorgeous fluffy mermaid-type of dress; it was white and flowing and it had a pretty good train to it that bustled up at the end of the night.

Where did you get married?
It was in Omaha, Nebraska, at his church. It was called Good Shepherd Evangelical Lutheran Church.

How many children do you have?
Lynda: We have three boys, three awesome boys. Our 10-year anniversary is coming up on August 15th.My father actually passed away in 2000, four days before my first son was born, so he never got to see his grandson. But my mom, (my parents were divorced), got a call from him on Wednesday and she was the only one to know if it was a boy or girl, my first son. He had called my mother asking that information and so he passed on knowing it was a boy. We gave him my dad’s name for a middle name. He was to come to Omaha from Chicago, and I didn’t get to go to his funeral because obviously I was going to have the baby in three days. He died on Saturday and it was Wednesday that I was going to have the baby. He had plans and tickets to come here, but my stepmother still came that weekend and saw the baby, so it made the experience even better. When they came to me to tell me that he passed away, it was tears, and then I was off to have the baby. It was a strange feeling being pregnant and then having your father pass away, all at the same time. It was bittersweet, they always told me, through the whole thing, and that’s exactly what it was. But that made it so perfect, it was perfect because my first son has a birthmark, and we tell him that’s his angel.

How would you describe your life together now?
Lynda: Lovely, beautiful, exciting, but also fast-paced and busy. We make time at night for us but everything is a building block. What do we do for the future? We have a very good nest being created. Our families are very close to all of us. We have a cabin nearby and we always invite his side of the family who get together every three months to go boating and be on the lake. My mother bought one of those Hilton condos in Orlando, and we’re very big on vacations; we love having time together and time with family and we’re very close to all of them. I think that’s what I love about Scott, he’s so warm and loving and everything is with the family.

He does all the cooking, because when we got married the issue was that he was a bachelor for eight years and he made meals in 20 minutes. He says if you can’t do it all in 20 minutes, then it’s not really a meal. I love him. How could he not have been taken? He was 28 years old, come on!

I appreciate every moment we have, and there is not a day that goes by that I don’t think, “Doors open and close,” and at that time, I told you a door closed for me, and then Scott walked into my life and then it opened again. It has just made every moment loved even more.

Scott: Beautiful!

Do you have any advice for others who are searching for love using the Together Dating Service?
Lynda: Never have a doubt and don’t have that fear that a lot of people have in dating, that it might not work out, because you just might notice that it’s really and truly in front of your eyes and you don’t realize it. Never doubt and take the chance because it just might become your two lives.

Scott: Don't be afraid to take a chance because the right one is just around the corner.