Betty Sue and Jimmy Broxton were married for 45 years. When Jimmy died last year, Betty Sue was all alone in a big house. Their five children had flown the nest years ago and the house was even quieter n ow because Jimmy’s week-long televised addition to sports events were no longer heard throughout the house. It was deathly quiet, except for the ticking of the old family clock over the mantlepiece.
Betty Sue said that after Jimmy died, she had no intention of ever dating or marrying again. But, when she heard strange noises in the house, she took it seriously because no one was there but her. When Jimmy was there, she blamed him for being the culprit and she would go on about her business; but now, it was different.
Most of her friends had turned to the internet looking for a friend or a lifetime partner. They came to realize that life is for the living and they must move on, and also because they felt their deceased partner would want them to find love and happiness again.
Betty Sue was encouraged by her girlfriends to join the search for a companion on the internet, which she did. When they compared notes for internet searching, they all had a good laugh.
They realized they knew so little about the meaning of certain words used. They wondered why every reply from another person ended in “L.O.L”. They presumed it meant “Lots of Luck, but I’m not interested in you, so move on!” And words like hashtag and smiley face captions only puzzled them more and added to their frustration and bewilderment.
Betty Sue was not having any luck in her quest to find a special friend or Mr. Right. Maybe, she was too old to start over again but her best friend had found a future husband on the site Plenty of Fish and was as happy as two peas in a pod.
Betty Sue’s friend gave her some sound advice – To insist that only serious inquires respond to her site and that she was not playing a game but was seriously looking for love. “That should get your message across,” her friend said.
Betty Sue had heard stories of women who went to a man’s residence and were no longer heard from again. One unfortunate woman was found buried in a man’s backyard who was later discovered to be a serial killer. Betty Sue realized you couldn’t be too careful in dealing with men or the internet. You couldn’t let your guard down.
Betty Sue met many suitors on Plenty of Fish over the next two years. She enjoyed the lively, and sometimes intense, conversations with gentlemen from across the United States but she never snagged a worthy fish or suitor on the site. She reluctantly threw the eligible ones back into the water and moved on with her life.
This past July she married the second “love of her life.” He wasn’t on the internet or Plenty of Fish. Betty Sue bumped into him in the produce center at her local grocery store and the rest is history.
