In 2005, Eddie and I were both widowed after lengthy marriages – he in Morgan Hill and I in Monterey. We each thought we would spend the rest of our lives single and were gradually resigning ourselves to that condition, but we both felt lonely. Finally, at the urging of our respective sisters, we simultaneously decided to try eHarmony, an online dating service recommended by the AARP.
In February 2007, Eddie paid for a month’s subscription, and after two weeks and dozens of “chats” he had not met anyone he felt suited him. On Valentine’s Day weekend, eHarmony offered a free weekend trial and I decided I would give it a chance. The questionnaire was long, in depth and required serious thought. It took me about an hour and two glasses of wine to complete the task. As I emerged from my home office to join my sister and grown daughter, I remarked, “Any man who would fill that thing out has to be determined or desperate!”
Within 24 hours, eHarmony had matched the two of us and the online conversation began. We spent two days getting to know each other and discovered we had so many things in common that we should have a telephone conversation. One of the interests we shared was language. My first husband was from Mexico City and we lived there for several years, and spoke Spanish in our home. Eddie was born in Poland, but grew up in Argentina, so Spanish was, in a sense, his first language. After speaking with him I realized I wanted to know him better. He had me at “Hola.”
I did not extend my subscription, and Eddie cancelled his within weeks. I joke that he paid $50 for me, and I got him for free! We were married in May 2008 and recently celebrated our fifth anniversary. Our families have blended remarkably well and our marriage is richer and stronger every day. When people meet us they assume we’ve been together forever and ask us how long we’ve been married. Since I was married for almost 30 years and he for almost 40, we love to tell them we’ve been married 75 years, and then watch their faces.
