LIFESTYLE
Recently divorced, writerLisa Fields
navigates the e-minefield of online
dating in search of new and true love
L
ast year, after the dust from my recent divorce
hadsettled,Ifeltreadytoattemptaromantic
relationship again. For the irst time in my life,
I created an online dating proile. I selected a
lattering, wide-grinned photo of myself, ex-
plained that I was seeking a clever, charming
maninmyagebracket(giveortakefouryears)
andthensatbacktoindoutwhatwouldhappen.
I don’t know what I was expecting from online dating, but
it certainly wasn’t this. For the irst month that my proile was
live, I was only contacted by men who were ten to 20 years
older than me, none of whom I would consider for a serious
relationship while raising two young children.
Afterthethirdorfourthsilver-haireddoctorlirtedwith
meelectronically,Istartedtoworry.Maybethementionin
myproileofmytwochildrenwasholdingmeback.Ibegan
thinkingaboutthedatingwebsite’ssuccessstoriesthatfea-
turedcoupleswhohadmarriedaftermeetingonline,giving
hope to unattached folks like myself. Most were stories about
twosinglepeoplewhoclicked,buttwostoriesfeatureddi-
vorced dads who married single women. Suddenly, it hit me:
none of the stories had featured divorced mums.
June• 2018 | 65
PHOTO: ISTOCK