What if we asked you to put your money where your heart is? Would you be ready to make a financial investment towards your love life? In Boca Raton, matchmaker Carol Morgan can confirm that many singles would, and in fact, do belong in her exclusive database.
Connecting couples is a very personal venture to Morgan, who made her first attempt at matchmaking for her own father just a few months after her mother died. She realized just how much he craved love and needed someone in his life. She sent a personal ad out to the Sun-Sentinel and received a hundred replies. Her father was much too shy to open the letters -- so she did it herself, and vetted the top twelve candidates she thought would be a good match. It was a successful venture, and her father would soon meet the women who would be the second love of his life until they both passed in their nineties.
Now, for over twenty-five years, Morgan has made it her mission to find connections for clients who range in age from forty to eighty. It's a unique playing field.
"When I first started, there was no one doing this," she explains. "Matchmakers didn't want to take older clients. They told me that after forty, people were too difficult to pair. They were too set in their ways and specific about the kind of matches they wanted to have."
Morgan saw this as more of an asset. "They know what they want and they're serious enough about it to be honest with me and with themselves."
She believes honesty (or the lack of it) has been the downfall of modern dating.
"You have endless opportunities to lie in an online profile. You have no one who can confirm and say, 'this guy is genuinely a good man.' And that's where I come in."
Her process starts with a getting-to-know-you survey that she asks all her clients to take. It's a simple fill-in-the-blank form on her website, carolmorgan.com. that helps shape her initial idea of who you are. Next comes a personal screening phone call.
"I am very upfront about the service I provide," Morgan says. "There is a membership fee to my program that serves as a factor in determining just how serious they are about developing a true committed relationship."
After that, she let's them know her other stipulations.
"I don't show pictures of potential matches, or put the emphasis on physical characteristics such as age, height, weight, even hair color. I trust my judgment on with whom I feel they'll make both an emotional and physical connection."
Carol's approach stems from the failure of new technology to make lasting connections through impersonal computer programs.
"There are too many options. It makes potential partners seem insignificant and disposable. We're looking for the right person and that means getting down to the heart of it and finding out who they are."
Her clients gather in her elegant home office for what can only be described as a half-interview, half-therapy session. She wants to learn about your relationship experiences, how you envision your future relationships and what you truly desire in a romantic partner.
"I work with many widowed and divorced clients who are trying to make that connection again."
She guarantees that clients will have a match within one month of the interview. Even after the match is made, she will still stay in the loop, always eager to nurture the connection through coaching and advice.
So why would anyone agree to such an old-fashioned spin on dating?
Probably because it works.
With a broad client base from over twenty-five years of successful matchmaking, Morgan enjoys the sound of her phone constantly ringing. "It is comforting to know that even in this age of technology, there is still an appreciation for old-world dignified romance." Morgan even opened additional offices along the East Coast, teaming up with her daughter to widen their client base.
"Putting yourself out there to find love again requires so much courage," she says. "If you're going to put your heart on the line, you might as well do it the right way."
Those interested in meeting their match can find carol at www.carolmorgan.com.
Ilana Jacqueline is a freelance writer and author of the upcoming OUTSMARTING CHRONIC ILLNESS by New Harbinger, February 2017. www.letsfeelbetter.com