These past couple of weeks have been so busy; I’m so exhausted, but Thanksgiving was great.

This is my fourth and final article of this series about online dating. Today I’ll share some past experiences with you.

THE GOOD - I have used several online dating services over the past few years, and made some friends along the way. I got to go out with some people, and had a good time. It gave me a better appreciation for different people out there, their interests, and goals in life. It also gave me a better understanding of what I was looking for.

THE BAD - There is so much deception out there, not just on line but in the world itself as a whole. We all need to keep our guard up at all times.  This brings to mind a particular experience I had, a while back, while browsing profiles. I had a person IM me on one of the dating sites who said that they were interested in chatting. She asked me if I had a Yahoo IM. I said yes, and we exchanged handles. Long story short, it turned out that she wanted me to sign up with an adult pay site to see her exhibit herself. I had a little fun with the situation to see how long I could chat with her on Yahoo, till she got tired of me and would sign off. Turned out she was quite persistent, and no I did not fall for the scam. I finally got her to admit that she was working for an adult pay site company as a model. I also told her that she would be a great sales or marketing person.

Just beware out there, if something seems too good to be true, find out why, but not the hard way.

The INCREDIBLE - I finally found the love of my life through a local dating service. This dating service is a bit different than your traditional online dating site. They require that you visit one of their offices, fill out a detailed form, and then they run a full background check. After one meets their stringent requirements, then they issue you an online user account, where you fill out your profile and post a photo. They also have weekly singles events, for members, so participants can meet  in a comfortable setting.

The week I signed up, I came across a profile of someone whom I really wanted to meet. I emailed her and didn’t hear back. So I hoped to meet her at the next event which took place at a nice restaurant, but alas… she never showed. Needless to say, I was very disappointed, but still had a good time. However, not all was lost. She showed up for the next event, which was a road trip to a place called Cedar Key. The first time I saw her I said to myself, wow she’s beautiful! We ended up carpooling together, and had a blast. We have been seeing each other ever since. She’s the most awesome person I have ever met, and I love her very much.

ALWAYS REMEMBER - You can’t have love without freedom, and there is no freedom without love.