Finding Love Over 60: Is Online Dating for You?

Just because we’re over fifty, or sixty, or seventy, doesn’t mean we’ve necessarily given up on love or finding someone with whom we can share our senior years. It’s not always easy, however, to find someone who feels the same way. The good news is, that we have available to us a resource that previous generations did not have: the internet and online dating opportunities. It can be intimidating at first, but it may just be worth staring down our fears and giving it a whirl. Here is one woman’s story. If you have an online dating story to share, good or bad, send it to us. We may just be able to include it in a future post. 

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I’m Nancy. I’m 63 and until recently I lived in Chicago, my hometown. I have just moved to Madison, WI to be with my fiancée Jack, who is 61. I used to think I would never find love again. I tried traditional ways of meeting people, but I never found the right person. Then, after encouragement from some younger friends of mine, I turned to online dating, and through eHarmony I found the love of my life.

Here’s my story:

TRYING ONLINE DATING

Several of my younger friends had been encouraging me to try online dating. I finally took the leap when I heard a radio ad for eHarmony saying they were offering three free days over Memorial Day weekend. By the time I joined, Jack had already been on eHarmony for two months, but had not found anyone he wanted to date.

FINDING EACH OTHER

I was only on eHarmony for two weeks when Jack’s profile was sent to me, but I didn’t contact him because of the distance between us. You see, I am not very savvy with computers and when filling out my profile, I had marked that I wanted my matches to come from “anywhere”. But by the time I changed this, Jack’s picture had come through. He was really cute and had the most mesmerizing smile I had ever seen. The third time his photo popped up, I decided “what the heck”, and sent him an invitation.

Within minutes after I hit the send button, Jack responded via email.

STARTING TO DATE

After emailing Jack for a week, I decided to call him on the phone, and he won me over. He was full of personality and so easy to talk to. For two weeks we talked on the phone every night for over an hour and sent emails back and forth every day. We asked each other key questions – both being in our 60s, we knew what we wanted and didn’t want.  So, by the time we did meet for our first face-to-face date, we knew more about each other than most couples know in their first year together.

THE PROPOSAL

Jack proposed to me last Memorial day weekend after 11 months together – ironically, exactly a year after I joined eHarmony.  We have a beautiful house in Madison that backs onto the woods, where we will be married in October.

ADVICE TO OTHER ONLINE DATERS

My advice regarding online dating is more for the mature daters out there. I fought the idea of online dating for three years because I wanted to meet someone the traditional way – but online dating really helps to narrow the field. I’m grateful to my young friends who encouraged me to try something new.  And now my older friends, those who discouraged me against online dating, are signing up themselves.  They see the relationship I have found online, and are hoping they will be as lucky me.