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Beth and John met for the first time on January 3, 2004. By the time the evening was over, they felt like they had known each other a lifetime. Here's their story.

John had moved to Arizona in November 2000, to start a new job, and a new life. Left behind were the ties to home, the closeness of family and friends. Ahead lay opportunities for finding new friends, a new job with lots of possibilities, and perhaps even some romance. Alas, not all went so well at first. The efforts at romance were fleeting at best, due to John's travel schedule, and a touch of shyness. While making new friends both at work and outside, no one person ever really was the one, the one that made the butterflies flutter about in his stomach. By fall of 2003, John was ready for a break, and so he and his best friend Christian, along with Cheri and Wayne, friends of John's from Connecticut, went on an 8 day cruise in the Caribbean. On the boat, John spent much time soul searching, wondering what had gone wrong, and what to do about it. Cheri and Wayne had met on the internet, and they had a wonderful marriage. They suggested trying E-Harmony, after all, it was free to join, and what did John have to loose.

Beth had also been having a challenging year. She had been in a car accident, which rendered her without a car. A root canal had to be performed on one of her teeth, and one of her cats had to have major surgery. She figured that bad things come in threes, and her three things were done. Life had to start getting better! And it did. Things began settling down, the school year smoothed out, and everything was falling into place. There was only one thing missing- and that was someone special to share her life with. Beth's mom, Suzie, suggested that she try something that was being advertised on the radio- eHarmony. Beth balked a bit at first, but then realized it was actually more convenient to try to meet a man online than it was anywhere else. So, after some helpful prodding from her mother, she sat down and filled out the extensive questionnaire. After filling out the personality profile, Beth was left wondering if she would meet someone and if they truly would be as compatible as the advertisements said. The truth did remain to be seen…

John thought about their suggestion, and when he got home from the cruise, went to the E-Harmony website and filled out their questionnaire. It was very extensive, and asked questions that left John wondering: "Why the heck do they want to know some of this stuff?" After not getting any matches for a few weeks, all of a sudden, they started flowing in. As he read through them, he came across one that really struck him as interesting, and so he started communication with this match. Soon they had progressed beyond the preformatted questions and answers, to sending their own questions and answers back and forth. John knew he was interested in this person, but his membership was about to expire, so he sent her his personal email address. They then started to communicate offline. This was all shortly before Christmas 2003. She was going to Oregon with her mother to visit her brother over Christmas, but she promised to email while she was gone.

Beth was intrigued with John's profile as well. He seemed to be so nice, he was educated, had his own home, and was close to his family. She was excited every time she checked her email and saw that she had another message from him. There were other matches too, but once the formatted communication system was over and they began exchanging freely written emails, one or both parties lost interest. Beth wondered if John would be like the other ones and stop talking to her when they could communicate freely. She was wrong- he got even better in the more detailed emails he sent her. She was nervous when he sent her his personal email address, but she took the plunge and emailed him back. She also took another risk and decided to put her search on hold with eHarmony to find out more about this guy named John from New York by way of Germany.

Three days after Christmas, John's house was broken into. It seemed that nothing was going right for John. However, when he got an email from her, it brightened his day a little. She consoled him, and was glad to hear he wasn't hurt. A few nights later, on New Years Eve, she sent John an email with her phone number in it, and said to give her a call. Around 10 that night, John was already in bed, determined to be asleep before the year ended, and to sleep peacefully into the new year, when he remembered her email, picked up the phone and called.

Beth and her mom drove up to Oregon to go see her brother for Christmas. It was nice to be with family, but being a Zonie, she was not too thrilled with the snow. She did get online and check her email to see if John had sent her something. He had, and when she opened it up, her reaction was instant worry when she saw that his house had been broken into. She soon found out that he was not hurt, just mad at the people who did this to him. Beth talked to her mom about what had happened, and she began to realize that she truly cared about this man she had not even met or talked to. She decided to get to know him more, and sent him her number and asked him to call her when she was back in town. Unfortunately, due that blasted condition known as snow, Beth and her mom were a day late coming back from their trip. When Beth got home, she checked her email and saw there was a new message from John, but nothing from him on her voicemail. She emailed him back to let him know she was safe in her own home, and then went about the business of laundry and unpacking, even though it was New Year's Eve. She thought it would be just another night that she spent with her mom, the VCR, and delivered pizza. Then the phone rang…

They talked for a while, but then she said she had to go, since it was time to toast in the New Year. She said she would call back afterward. A nd call she did. They talked until 2 AM, when they both agreed they were tired. She said she would call him again the next day. They talked again the next day, about this and that, finding out truly how much they had in common. She was buying a car the next day, and was very excited about that. His friend Chris was also in Phoenix, unexpectedly, so John made plans to see him the next day, January 2nd. Before they hung up, John asked her if she would like to go out for dinner, to meet face to face. She said yes! They made plans to go to dinner on Saturday, January 3rd.

It felt like Beth had known John forever, even though this was the first time they spoke on the phone. She was amazed at how much they had in common. It seemed like she could tell him everything about her job, her family, and even the new car she was hoping to purchase the next day. When he asked to meet her face to face, her heart skipped a beat and then jumped in her throat. Overcoming an attack of nerves, she agreed to meet him on Saturday. Beth told herself that it was just a date, and she had no reason to be nervous. She had been on several first dates recently, but not too many of them had been followed by second dates. In fact, none of them had. For some reason, Beth was sincerely hoping that this date would lead to more.

The next day, it seemed as if the whole world was out to destroy John's date. John had promised to pick up friends returning from a family visit to the east coast on January 3rd. When John called to find out what time they were arriving, he was mortified to hear that their plane was scheduled to arrive in the evening. "It can't be", thought John. "I have a date. Now I have to cancel my date, or end it early, to go pick up my friends." Then, a plan started forming. Perhaps she would agree to go with him to pick up his friends, and then they could continue their date. So, John gave her a call, and ended up talking to her mom, since she was in the middle of signing papers on her new car. John left a message with her mom for her to call back. When she did, he said "I made a promise to friends to pick them up at the airport tomorrow night. But I don't want to cancel our date. So here is my idea. Instead of going out, I'll cook dinner at my house, and then we can go from there to the airport, pick up my friends, and then come back to my house." John expected her to say no, that she didn't like the idea. But she surprised him. She agreed to his plan, and said she would be there the next night. So, now John had to figure out what to make for dinner. Since she had said she liked Mexican food, and he did too, he decided to make enchiladas, filled with chicken and rice and other goodies. Then, after making sure the house was in tiptop shape, he waited for her to come. When she finally rang the doorbell, John opened the door, and there she stood.

Beth never minded being part of an adventure. And picking up one of John's friends from the airport along with his wife and their four kids would most certainly be an adventure. She was happy that he agreed to cook dinner, and then had to decide what to wear. She knew what was appropriate for a dinner and a movie, but for dinner and an airport run? She decided on jeans and her new favorite purple sweater. After making a few wrong turns in her new car getting to John's house, she finally got there, even though she was late. She parked her car, checked her lipstick, and then got out to ring the doorbell. The door opened and there he was.

When he first saw her, he thought "Wow, she's cute!" This was followed immediately by two other thoughts. The first was "Relax and be yourself." The second one was "Don't screw this up!" So he invited her in, and offered to give her the nickel tour. He was proud of the house he had set up by himself, and had cleaned most of the day. While he was finishing up dinner, John got a call from a co-worker asking if he was available for a game of pinochle that night, but John politely said that he had company, and could not attend. Dinner was good, John managed not to burn anything. He was still amazed that she would run to the airport with him in the middle of a date.

She saw his eyes and smile first, and was amazed at how pretty they both were. She then realized that was looking up at him, and he had not lied about being tall. At five feet nine inches, dating a shorter man was out of the question for Beth. She could not resist giving him a hug. He led her inside and then gave her a home tour. She made the appropriate compliments, but internally was realizing that this guy lived in a practically empty house! It almost resembled a model home. When they sat down to eat, it was to yummy enchiladas and fun conversation. John told her that he was happy she did not turn him down for the date because he had to go to the airport, and she was happy to see that he was a thoughtful man who cared about his friends enough to pick them up from the airport. The time came for them to leave.

Beth drove John to his friend Tim's house, to pick up their van, and then followed John to the airport. John was highly impressed by her new car, especially the legroom in the passenger seat. John had visions of road trips in this vehicle, even at this early time in the relationship. It was after all, very comfortable. At the airport, John and Beth waited for Tim and his family, and talked, finding out more about each other. The similarities were downright scary at times. When Tim and his family arrived, John got loaded up with two kids, and Beth was handed a third. Then they all walked to baggage claim, where Tim was dying to ask John questions about Beth, but thankfully, kept his mouth shut. John had heard Tim's son Jonathan ask Beth if she was John's girlfriend, and she had said no.

There were no problems in picking up John's friends from the airport. The kids were a bit tired, but were interested in Uncle John's new girlfriend. Beth was quick to say that she was not his girlfriend, she was just his friend. After getting the family to their car and settled, she and John took off back to his house, where they ended up talking most of the night. At the end of the evening, John asked if he could see her again, and she agreed. This guy had definite potential, and she wanted to know more about him.

The night flew by, and before John knew it, Beth was leaving. She said she had a great time, but was she just saying that? Sunday morning John wondered if it had all been a dream, but then Tim called, asking about the girl. Then John knew it was real. John knew he wanted to see her again, and he left her a voicemail, letting her know he had a great time, and would like to see her again. John hoped that she would call him back, but alas, he didn't hear back from her on Sunday or Monday. Then on Tuesday morning, he checked his email from the office, and there it was: an email from Beth. This can't bode well, thought John, and indeed, it didn't. It was a "Dear John" letter. Well, not quiet. In it, she said she liked me, but she wasn't ready for a romantic relationship, that she only wanted to be friends.

There was one thing that was a source of worry for her, though. In the past, she had jumped into romantic relationships with men and they had not lasted. Something was different about John, and she knew that she had to go slow and take time to get to know him. She sent him an email a few days after their date, telling him this. He replied a day later, saying he agreed and was willing to be friends and get to know each other before anything else happened. And then he began implementing his plan…

John was hurt, but decided that a good friendship would be better then nothing, and perhaps with time, she would be ready for a romantic relationship. Over time, John started to work his way into her life, slowly ingratiating himself. He had already started to eat better, and when she asked him if he would join Weight Watchers with her, he was agreeable to that. They started doing things together, cooking dinner, going to concerts, to the Renaissance Fair, and planning a weekend in San Diego. John cashed in lots of frequent traveler points to get a nice suite in San Diego.

John began to become a part of Beth's life in every way he could. He went with her on AzCATs trapping jobs, and then came to a clinic to see what they did there on the high volume spay days for feral cats. He and Beth joined Weight Watchers together, and attended meetings on Tuesday nights, usually resulting in dinner afterwards. Then John mentioned that he wanted to start cooking more, so he offered to start a Wednesday Night Supper Club, involving him and Beth. They would alternate cooking for each other on Wednesday nights. Beth had to admire his persistence is becoming a part of his life. He even planned a trip for them to go to San Diego together!

After four months of having John work his way into her life, Beth realized that she wanted him to be more than just a friend. So, one night, as John kissed her on the head, she challenged him to do better. And he did. And the rest, as they say, is history!