Finding my prince in the frog pool

Okay… I’m out and proud! No I am not gay but that would be okay too! I am out and proud about being the lucky beneficiary of being on a dating site!

Eleven years ago my daughter became concerned that I had been single for several years and she was worried about me, so she set about putting me on RSVP. I was mortified and told her that I was not that desperate; in fact I was enjoying my single life. She persevered and even made me ten years younger than what I was as she said my age, which was then 61, may put ‘them’ off, but as soon as they saw me they would not worry about my age and I could confess.

I did have coffee with several men but decided it wasn’t for me. I set about removing myself from the site when I was approached by someone who persevered. I had deleted his first approach but he had a strong feeling to keep trying. How glad I am that he did as he gave me the most amazing eight years of my life – so far. We married fairly soon after meeting and our marriage was as near to perfect as I think a marriage could be.

While we were courting, I became aware that there were a large number of women who had wanted to be in my shoes and had been hoping that he may look their way. I asked him why, with such a number of admirers, he needed to go on a dating site. His reply was that he wanted someone with a brain with whom he could have intelligent conversations.  Phew! I thought that was a lot to live up to but I must have stood the test of time. Channel Ten’s ‘The Project’ did a segment on us in 2010 and at the conclusion Charlie and Carrie thought it was so lovely and even crusty old George Negus said that ‘it was enough to make an old man cry’. Of course we didn’t know then that our happy union was drawing to a close. It was very hard to lose him but I will always be so glad that my daughter put me on that dating site.

Fast forward to a month ago when my daughter again intervened! Somehow I found myself on another dating site – Be2. This time instead of being 72, she put me down as 69 for the same reasons as in the first instance. My first two respondents were not encouraging as they turned out to be scams. These guys are very clever but if you ask the right questions you can soon pick it up. I hadn’t been overly keen in the first place so I was anxious to get off the site as soon as possible, once more deleting any approaches made to me.  It was all déjà vu!

A short time ago I once more set about getting off this site. I think they make it deliberately difficult to do this! As I was doing so, exactly the same thing happened as so many years before. I was approached by a man from Melbourne and something in his approach pricked my interest. We began emailing and speaking for lengthy periods on the phone and found we had a great deal in common. Early in the piece I confessed my age and although he is several years younger, it was not an issue. Interesting though, as in my previous husband’s case, he may not have approached me if he had initially just seen the age.

Well, over the Anzac weekend, he flew up to spend time with me. My daughter played chaperone but soon found it unnecessary. I had the most delightful three days and neither of us felt at all disappointed. He arrived with a large bunch of flowers and a big smile and we now look forward to catching up again and seeing wherever this might go. My darling Mick’s last words were for me to go on living and I didn’t think I could but at present I feel like a 72 year old teenager and it is a pretty nice feeling.

So my comment about dating sites – Go for it! It is worth the risk!

 Have you met someone special on an online dating site? Share your story with us in the comments below…