After being married for over twenty-five years, my parents divorced and my mother found herself suddenly alone.  After six months of sitting day in and day out alone, she decided it was time to get out and move on with her life.  She married at the age of eighteen, and had no idea what the dating scene in today's world was like.  As far as I can tell, up to that point my father had been the only man she had ever dated.

First, she started going out to the local singles bars.  Then, quickly she realized that many of the people who went to these places were considerably younger than her. In observing, she realized that most of these people were out just looking for a good time without any type of commitment.  At first, this discouraged her from the entire idea of dating, then she decided that maybe they were not the type of places people her age went to meet new people.  

Next, she tried the local dating services.  You know, the type of place where you sign up for a membership, look through books of people's photos with their basic information.  Perhaps you might look at a video where they tell you what they want you to know, or what they think you want to hear.  Once again, she quickly realized that many of the people who frequent these types of services were much younger than her.  Although, she did have a younger man who expressed some interest in her.  They decided to meet one night at a local pub, but within ten minutes her head was screaming to get out of there.  She politely said she needed to powder her nose, then ran for the hills.  It turned out to be a good thing too, later she found out the man was married with three children and had done this sort of thing to his wife before.  His wife found my mother's phone number in his wallet, one evening about a week later, and called my mother.  She was shocked and furious, and decided to never go back to a dating service again.

About heartbroken and ready to give up, my mother decided she would try one last thing. She had to try one of the internet websites, where they match you with someone based on compatibility tests. Halfheartedly, she filled out the questionnaire and waited.  Periodically, she would check her inbox to see if there were any matches or responses from other users.  For five months she had no response, then finally there was a match who was interested in meeting her.  They emailed each other for about six months before they met face to face.  Then they dated for about six months.  On the six month anniversary of the date they met face to face, he proposed to her.  She accepted and they were married two months later, neither wanting to wait any longer than that.  They've now been married for three years.  

Now that is a happy ending that many women look for when they date!