JANICE AND GARETH – from a long distance relationship to marriage

Joining Friendsfirst was a positive step for me. Dating had never been my strong point and after 12 years of marriage which sadly ended with divorce I was clueless as to how to start again. Friendsfirst offered a supportive service without relying completely on the internet which appealed to me. I read the details on their website many times before deciding to join, just for a year, just to see how it went.

Katharine telephoned me after a couple of months and encouraged me to raise the age limit of the profiles I wanted to receive and contact at least half of the men in each quarterly group rather than just two or three.

When the next batch of profiles arrived I saw one from Gareth who was only 10 months older than me. He had lived in the next county before moving to Wales. I decided to contact him because this would provide common ground for conversation.

After exchanging letters we progressed to phone calls and arranged to meet in a city between our homes. Gareth asked to see me again and although I couldn’t decide whether I had enjoyed our meeting or just survived it without messing up I agreed.

Future meetings went well. We both relaxed and Gareth’s sense of humour and steady nature laid a foundation of trust in our relationship.

Long distance meetings came to an end when Gareth asked me to marry him six months after we first met. I arranged to move 150 miles to be with him. We felt certain our plans were being blessed by God as my flat sold within a week. We married almost 12 months to the day after our first meeting having asked Friendsfirst to suspend our memberships some time before. Shortly after marrying I succeeded in a job interview which helped me settle into my new area.

I recommend Friendsfirst as a resource which offers great advice and cares about members. Relax and take that step forward, just to see how it goes.