I never thought I’d be in this situation again. But I don’t think I’ve ever been this happy
After becoming single for the first time in almost four decades, Carol Mckechnie was nervous about re-entering the dating world.
But when friends introduced the 58-year-old to online dating, she soon found there were plenty of eligible singles out there to meet – although, she admits, it was difficult at first.
“It’s scary getting back into dating when you’re older,” she said. “When you’re younger you can go to clubs or out for a drink with friends, but it’s not as easy for a woman my age. The last thing on my mind was socialising to meet someone new – it’s difficult to believe that you can do it all over again. “But one night I went out with friends for a meal, and one of them got hold of my phone and installed Tinder. She went through swiping right and my phone was going mad! I just thought, ‘Oh no that’s not the way to go for me’.
“So I looked into other dating sites and I joined match.com. It took me a while to use it, but curiosity got the best of me.” After a while Carol started to date again, which she described as a “huge learning curve” as she navigated meeting people and adjusted to her new life.
Then one day, while looking through online profiles, a familiar face jumped out at her and she realised it was a friend she had met years earlier at an indoor bowling club.
She sent off a message but didn’t hear anything back. Then six months later, a note arrived in her inbox – and the rest, as they say, is history.
Carol connected with Fred, 63, and what started as a few messages back and forth soon turned into a whirlwind romance.
After just a few dates, the pair quickly become an official couple, and were engaged within three months of reconnecting. “We didn’t really know each other back then – just to say hello in passing. I was happily married at the time and so was he,” said Carol, who lives in Aberdeen. “Then we started messaging each other back and forth and met up for dinner. We both actually said we would never get married again because we didn’t want to go through another divorce.
“But we started dating at the end of February last year, quickly made a commitment to each other then got engaged in the May. We were married in April this year.
“Our wedding day was truly magical – we wanted it to be all about new beginnings.
“I never thought I would be in this situation again. I don’t think I’ve ever been this happy.”
After meeting the perfect partner, Carol encourages anyone dating in later life to stick it out as they might just find what they have been missing all along. She said: “I have a friend who said to me, ‘Oh I just couldn’t do online dating’ and I always say, ‘But just look who you might find!’ If you’re meant to find someone, you will.”