Donna Shuegrue

I am so excited to share a link with you to my new column in the Gazette, “Dear Donna”. It will be featured every other Monday and it will be interactive with people emailing me their questions about dating, love and romance.

My first appointment today is a lady, late 40’s, educated, divorced, and her long term goal is marriage. She saw my ad one day and ran into a stranger at a social function the next and ended up in a conversation about the fact that they both had just both spoken to me about Perfectly Matched. The other lady was a referral from Marsha, who married Jay in 1997, and has sent me more referral business than anyone else.

I have had some fun interviews the last couple of days: A lady, mid 50’s, educated, divorced, grown children, and her long term goal is marriage. She is an “8.5”, on a scale of “0” to “10” in religion. She is a “7” in conformity. Which means she is very traditional and a strong believer. And, she is hot! She looks ten years younger than her age, she is in great shape, has long, flowing hair, and, therefore, attracts younger men. And, for the most part, younger men who are not interested in going to church.

My last three new clients this week are all men! Mid 40’s, mid 50’s and mid 60’s. The fellow who is in his mid 40’s is divorced, self employed, has one grown child, and his long term goal is a serious relationship, possibly marriage. He said “I would prefer to work out a financial settlement should the relationship not last, as opposed to marriage.” He believes marriage is ultimately about a financial arrangement whether you stay married or get divorced.

My first appointment today is a lady, late 30’s, divorced, educated, she has one grade school child, and her long term goal is to be married and raise more children. She cannot have any more children of her own but she is open to raising someone else’s children, or adoption.

It is hard to believe Thanksgiving was a week ago tomorrow and Christmas will be here in less than a month. I returned from visiting my daughter and her family on Saturday and I woke up in the middle of the night with “something”..a cold, an allergy attack, the flu, I wasn’t sure but I knew it wasn’t good. Four days later it appears to have been just a cold. I drank a ton of water and got a ton of sleep, so it wasn’t all bad but there is nothing worse than feeling sick.

Last week was a busy week. I interviewed eight people and six of them are now new clients. Most of them said they were going to wait until after the first of the year, but they were inspired to call because I am offering 50% off my regular programs until Thanksgiving.

My favorite part of matchmaking is the interview. I never know who is going to walk through my door, what their “scores” will be, what their story will be, what I will learn from having met them. I learn something new with every person I interview.

When someone calls to inquire about my service, these are the questions I ask:

I don’t know who is going to date in their own age range anymore. I interviewed a lady in her 40’s who said “My experience has been that men in my age range want to date younger women in their 20’s and 30’s.”