I read through some of these posts and decided to write, especially when there were comments questioning the authenticity of the postings.

I became a member of the Yahoo Personals site back in August 2005. I was hesitant to put a picture up, and in fact, never did. The drawback to that is that I NEVER received even one inquiry letter. (Which is to be expected, I suppose. The old adage "a picture is worth a thousands words" is really true in the on-line world.)

I DID write several letters and sent them off with a promise of a picture sent separately. My experiences were interesting. I didn't receive a reply from most of the men. I corresponded with a couple of persons for a few weeks and eventually moved up to phone calls. I had a date with one of them who lived 4 hours from my home. We met half-way and had a really nice date, but the "chemistry" wasn't there for him (regarding me) and that cooled pretty quickly.

The "Icebreaker" feature was annoying. I understand the premise of a quick way to flirt and possibly connect, but it's also used by those who aren't members yet. Therefore, someone might send an Icebreaker, "I like your profile!" and then the communication stops because they have no way to correspond.

Fast forward a few months.

On January 19 (2006), I was sitting at the computer in the hotel lobby where I was staying while on a business trip and browsed Yahoo Personals yet again. I changed the search paramaters a bit to be a little more detailed about what I was looking for. A personal relationship with God was important, as well as a good sense of humor, interest in lots of outdoor activities, etc.

Having over 1,000 guys who "matched" my search criteria was daunting, but exciting- almost a "man smorgasbord" as I told one of my friends later.

One of the profilees caught my eye, not only because he was cute (yes, HE had a picture!) :) and wrote well, but because there was also a commitment to "write a reply to anyone who sends a note." Based on that promise, it was easy to craft a (somewhat):) witty flirtatious missive and I eagerly waited the promised message.

Two days later, I received a long, funny, intelligent and informative (wow!) letter in my mailbox. A flurry of notes and a few hours-long phone calls later, and Jim arrived in my little rural town after traveling 7 hours away from his urban dwelling.

It's a year later. We got engaged in August, married in a wonderful intimate ceremony at a B&B in Maine, honeymooned on the East Coast, and are now getting settled into our life between two states, two jobs, three teenagers, four properties (and a partridge in a pear tree.) :)

Jim travels to my town every other Friday, doing business on his cell phone as he drives, then spends a week with me. On the following Friday, he travels back to his (other) home in Chicago, where he spends the week with his two children. Every couple of months or so, I travel to see him and the arrangements is reversed.

The relationship is loving, fun, exciting, fulfilling and lots of work. :)People are amazed that we are so compatible and always want to know how we met.

Jim agrees that it seems to be a bit more difficult for men. He has said that it was rare to ever get an unsolicited letter from a female, and didn't get many replies when HE would send a note.

Yahoo Personals has many positive features- a good profile area, space for lots of pictures, excellent search parameters (including distance and interests), good tech support and is relatively inexpensive.

Take a chance! There's really nothing to lose.

An interesting note: In his profile, I didn't "fit" Jim's requirements in height (I was 3 inches taller than he "wanted"); distance (I was 350 miles further than his preference as he had never envisioned a long distance relationship); body type (I'm not "slender") and probably several others. I wrote anyway. Being a bit open minded on both of our sides at the onset was key to our meeting.

Jamie