Stacey and Daniel

Hi! I am writing to tell you the story of my husband and I.

Daniel and I met through JDate exactly three years ago. I had been on the site for several years and had probably gone on dozens, if not a hundred different first dates. I would be on JDate for months at a time, get discouraged and remove my profile and then go through the whole cycle again.  When we met in July 2006, I had recently renewed my subscription and Dan had been on the site for less than a month – having just moved to D.C. for his residency in family medicine at Georgetown University.

After a week of corresponding by email, our first date was at the Irish pub, Sine, in Pentagon City.  I thought he was cute, and enjoyed our conversation, but I was more focused on my fast pitch softball team’s upcoming playoffs. I ended the date after one drink (barely an hour) so that I could go to the batting cages one more time before the next day’s quarterfinal game. Dan now teases me mercilessly about this.

Our first year of dating survived Dan’s intern year of his residency, when he often worked 100-hour weeks, and would still find time to see me. He’d come over for dinner or a movie after a 36-hour shift at the hospital while struggling to keep his eyes open. Our next year of dating survived my job as an associate at a large law firm, and many innings of softball, including some tournaments on the road that took me out of town for the weekends. We were however, able to take trips to Portugal and the Galapagos Islands.  We bonded over our similar love for our families, athletics (he’s a competitive tennis player), our love for travel and wine, our Jewish faith, and our growing love for each other. I deeply admired Dan’s commitment to go into Family Medicine to treat the under-served who have little or no health insurance.

One year and eight months after our first date, Dan asked me to meet him at the Jefferson Memorial the following day and to bring my softball gloves so that we could have a catch around the cherry blossoms.  I thought it was funny that I didn’t hear from him at all throughout the morning or afternoon, but I arrived at 5 pm, making my way through the Cherry Blossom Festival throngs. We started having a catch around the trees, about 30 yards from the memorial. As we threw, I gave him pointers about turning his shoulders when he throws. Then, I realized that I could hear violin music – Vivaldi’s “Four Seasons.”  I figured that there must be live music playing as part of the Cherry Blossom Festival. As we kept throwing, I noticed a woman playing a violin, emerging from amongst the trees in the distance. She kept playing as she strolled closer and closer to us.  We kept tossing the ball, but at the same time, I started to realize that this might be something other than Cherry Blossom Festival music. Finally, the woman stood less than 20 feet from us, still playing. I stopped to look at her, and Dan switched out the ball we were throwing with a different ball. When he threw it back to me, I noticed it had writing on it.  It said, “Will You Marry Me?” The next thing I remember, I was crying and laughing and Dan was kneeling on the ground in front of me. Of course, I said, “yes.”

We were married exactly one year and one week after Dan proposed – Sunday, April 5, 2009. It was a gorgeous, cherry blossom day. We were married at the Sixth & I Historic Synagogue in D.C., and had our reception at the Key Bridge Marriott. On display at the reception was an amazing poster that my sister made, showing Dan and my first week of email conversations with each other. This poster received more compliments than the food or the music. It was as though everyone could witness our first “meeting.”  Our honeymoon took us to French Polynesia, Tahiti, Moorea and Bora Bora. 

We just bought our first home, a cute townhouse, and it’s so much fun making it “ours.”  Most of all, we just can’t wait to spend the rest of our lives together.

I’m attaching some pictures from our wedding day, taken by the talented Matt Mendelsohn.

Dan and I want to say thank you, JDate, for changing our lives, and for allowing us to find each other.

Thank you,

Stacey and Daniel
Alexandria, Virginia