My first appointment today is a lady, late 20’s, ABS, educated, a nurse, her long term goal is marriage and children. I told her my client base consists of more female teachers and nurses than any other professional group of women and that men very often prefer teachers and nurses. She asked “Why do you think that is the case?” I said “Because men like the caretaking, nurturing personalities.” She said “ I believe that! I work mostly with infants and I find that much of what I do to console and pamper them also works for a man in my life.” We both laughed then she said “I’m serious.” I said “Like what?” She had one boyfriend who loved it when he was upset and laying in her arms and she would stroke his head and rub his back and saying “shhh, shhh, shhh, everything’s going to be OK.” There were a few other examples I wish I could share. She also likes a nurturing man. She said “I want a man who can be sensitive, compassionate, loving, kind hearted and treats a lady with respect.” In her last relationship every time he said or did something that upset her or hurt her feelings he would say “I was just kidding.” She said “I never want to hear ‘I was just kidding’ again.” She enjoys hiking, ZUMBA, running, working out, eating healthy, spending time with family and friends and she would like to travel when she gets married, before they start a family. She said “It is so cheap to fly to Europe. I see great deals on the internet and when I find the right man I would love to go to Europe for a honeymoon.” She would also like to go to New Zealand and Australia. When I asked her where she heard about my service she said “I see your ads everywhere and I finally went to your website and liked what I read. I also like the idea of having my own Matchmaker.” She has seen “Millionaire Matchmaker” a few times and said I was much nicer than the Millionaire Matchmaker. I said “That is reality TV….this is real life, real people, and I am a real Matchmaker who makes the matches based on both clients preferences. She asked “Do you have any millionaires?” I said “Not in your age range, but I have some matches for you that certainly have the potential to be millionaires.” She said “I don’t need a millionaire, I want to be Perfectly Matched.” And so she shall be….
Last night I attended a fundraiser for a nonprofit organization called Family Connections. A good friend invited me because she knows I support other nonprofit organizations and she knows if it involves kids I will be especially interested. I was very impressed with what I heard and what this organization does for our community. Here are some of the statistics they quoted and they all apply to the last 12 months in El Paso County:
1) The number of families who received family advocacy support services, 247.
2) The number of hours of care for children at Family Connection’s KPC Kids’ Place, 5,719.
3) The number of families who received support at KPC Kids’ Place, 278.
4) The number of families who received education through the Nurturing Parenting Program, 61.
5) The number of fatalities resulting from child abuse, 7.
6) The number of reports of child abuse to the Department of Human Services, 12,604.
7) The rate of divorce in El Paso County, 75%.
The number of reports of child abuse and the divorce rate were the two statistics most discussed by the group of people I was seated with and most of them were surprised by both of those numbers. I was surprised by the reports of child abuse but, as a Matchmaker, I have been aware that the divorce rate in El Paso County has been in the 70 percentile for many, many years. It made me think, however, about how those two statistics are probably very connected.
If you are interested in learning more about Family Connections visit their website at www.familyconnectionsco.org.
To be continued………………….