Dear Ladies and Gentlemen,

No, not my fifth marriage, but another great love story from a follower of the Senior Bachelor "adventure." I was preparing a very different Newsletter and boom, this came along, and "scooped" me.

From Jennifer:

Richard,

I emailed you about my engagement last November to a man I met through PerfectMatch and your encouragement to try it for a few months.

Well, you have another wedding story to tell! I had made the trek to your Chicago Senior Bachelor event, submitted my tape to you, and met you there along with dozens of great women. It was so much fun that I decided to keep my PerfectMatch membership going another six months. You see, I had done the profile, had received a few matches up to that point, but never contacted any of them or even put my photo on-line. At your party in Chicago, I realized it was time to venture out as I had been divorced for ten years, raised three boys, with the last one now in college.

I kept checking for my perfect match, but still didn't email any of them until May, 2006, when my future husband and I started writing. Terry had already deleted me because I didn't have my photo on-line and I had said very little in my description. But I liked what I read about him and went ahead and sent the initial email. We started emailing all the time and he made a date to meet up in Traverse City for the Cherry Festival. What a perfect first date, Terry had arrived early, checked out where the Blue Angels were performing over the beach and bay, found food places and somewhere to sit before I even arrived. He was thrilled because he got to watch the Blue Angels (he's a Colonel in the Air Force with many years as a flight surgeon), meet me, and then we talked for hours! He had told all the other women he emailed on PerfectMatch that he would not have a second date with any of them until he met most of them.

Well, after that first date, Terry told me "I had ruined it for him", that he couldn't go out with anyone else. He drove two hours north to visit me every week-end for the next two months before I ever went to his hometown. What a terrific guy in so many ways, intelligent, kind, playful, musical, and hard working with great kids. My three boys liked him immediately!

In November of 2006, I was visiting my professional basketball player middle son in Aalst, Belgium for two weeks. Terry came over for the last week and at one of my son's games there, he asked me to marry him! And had brought a ring with him all that way from the US! It was very romantic for us and my son told me "Mom, you need to seal the deal!" So, on June 23, 2007 with the help of Terry's minister and our children, we were married at Terry's home. Then we all drove north to my house for the reception on the beach with all the friends and relatives. It was the most perfect night of the summer so far. We both are very grateful to have each other and are enjoying each moment as it comes along.

(Terry and Jennifer's Wedding)

Richard, please continue to do the work you are doing. Your goal to Promote Romance & Adventure for People 50 and Over has inspired many people. Had you not appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show and in People Magazine, I'm sure I would be single today and not have met such a wonderful man. Keep up the good work!!!

If I could give any advice, it would be to be yourself, to love life, be generous, be thankful, and be willing to meet new people. Best of wishes to all of you,

Jennifer

Wow, what a great story. This really makes me feel good. I must admit, that on more than one occasion since I had to return from Chile last year in the second month of my trip around the world as a result of having prostate cancer, I have thought about wrapping up the whole Senior Bachelor "mission." After all, this started out as my search for a life partner, and that came to an abrupt halt. Since my operation, I have concentrated on getting healthy, and my search for a life partner had to be put on hold. And that's the way it has been for the last 1 1/2 years.

I am not ready to pronounce the SB mission as finished. It seems there is a new mission, not one man's search, but a mission to help others, by encouraging people to get out of the house, join organizations, by arranging cruises, tours, and try on- line dating, etc.

Jennifer's story really is a wonderful example of what could happen to you. She really put herself out there, and gave herself a chance to get lucky. She sent in her tape, went to the Crazy Hat party in Chicago (she is third from the left in the photo below!), and persisted with PerfectMatch, and you see the results above.

(Jennifer at the Crazy Hat Party- Third from Left)

Joe Franklin, the Business Manager for Senior Bachelor, is very familiar with dating services, having met his wife Nancy that way!!! Joe carefully researched all of the on-line dating companies and determined that PerfectMatch was best for our group.

We all have been around long enough to know that there is no guarantee that joining a dating service, or getting fixed up, or joining organizations, will result in anything. My point is, if you do nothing, you can be sure you will stay single, and miss out on a lot of fun activities. You have to give yourself a chance!!!

An example is cruises. Many people write to me and ask.....What is the ratio of men to women in our group? The ratio on cruises in general is about 80% women, due to the fact that most men get "bored" on cruises (I don't!!!) and most women love the fact that they don't have to make a bed, do any cleaning or cooking, or any kind of work for the duration of the cruise. And many women do not go on the cruises when they find out that there will be more women than men. If you recall in a recent Newsletter, Peggy from Pennsylvania, went on the Panama Canal cruise this past January, and she met a great man who happened to be on the cruise with his family!! Peggy gave herself a chance and she's engaged to be married! (See her story below.)

This seems to be my new mission. To encourage YOU to do whatever you can to meet new people. I understand that many people cannot afford the time or maybe the resources to go on cruises or tours. However, there are numerous organizations you can join in your area, or do volunteer work, and meet new people. Write me and tell me about what you are doing and I'll share it with everyone in the newsletters. If you can afford 15 minutes to take the Free Compatability Test with PerfectMatch- click here - and if you like the result, spend about $20 a month for at least 3 months. You are giving yourself a chance.

There have been 5 marriages as a result of women getting involved with the activities we have put together and from trying PerfectMatch. It's worked for our group, but please have reasonable expectations.

Future Newsletters:

1) I will have the results of the recent cruise survey. Bottom line, there will be a cruise with Holland America to the Eastern Caribbean from January 5-12, 2008. Click here for more information.

2) Tours to Italy in 2008