Looking for love — with some help

BY MARC LALONDE

marc.lalonde@transcontinental.ca

Matchmaker, matchmaker, make me a match. Find me a find. Catch me a catch.

— Fiddler on the Roof



It’s Valentine’s Day, and the media, popular culture, television and the movies are all telling you it’s better to be together than it is to be alone.

Maybe you agree. Maybe you don’t. That said, there are still people out there looking for their ideal mate; people who believe in happily ever after and people for whom ‘destiny’ isn’t just a word they use in the movies.

Linda Miller is one of those people. Miller has been making matches all her life, but she only turned her talent and passion into a business about a decade ago. Since then, Misty River Introductions has served dozens of West Islanders and literally thousands of singles from Montreal through Ontario. Internet dating, which hit a nadir in 2003, has actually sent more people to Miller and increased demand for her services.

“Our popularity increases with each year as people turn away from the Internet and look to other ways to meet people,” she said, adding that with more and more singles living in bedroom communities with little or no contact with others in their part of town, meeting a potential mate has never been tougher.

“I would say, given the difference between the business we were doing a year ago, two years ago, three years ago and today, it is probably harder to meet someone than ever before,” said Miller in a phone interview Monday afternoon.

McGill University employee Cristina Kakebeeke is a self-confessed romantic who never met a sappy Blue Rodeo tune she didn’t like, but the 32-year-old Bishop’s University alumnus said she was interested in meeting her very own Mr. Right.

“It’s tough out there,” she said. “With a career and other friends and family distractions, it’s tough to actually meet someone you have some level of chemistry with.”

An amateur matchmaker herself, Kakebeeke takes responsibility for friends’ happy marriages with pride. She just hasn’t been able to do it for herself. Well, not yet anyway.

“I think (Miller) probably could,” Kakebeeke said. The fetching blonde hasn’t had any trouble attracting men; it’s been a matter of finding the right one. “You have to be open to it, and it gives you different options. That’s why I’m doing this. You start getting to a certain age and you’re single, she can help you find what it is that you’re looking for,” she said.

Or what you’re not looking for. Of the five potential matches Miller gave Kakebeeke last week, only one seemed interesting enough to take a chance on

“It’s going to be interesting, that’s for sure,” she said.

For Miller, it’s all about sorting through good matches for clients — and helping them find out what they don’t want as well.

“Our market is for people who just don’t have time to get out there and meet a lot of people. Frequently people aren’t living in the town where they grew up and don’t have time to build a social network. We are trying to help our clients cut to the chase. Nobody really likes dating — they want to get to the point where they meet someone with whom they have some chemistry, rather than spend 45 minutes to an hour with someone they know they won’t want to see again,” she said.

Her service isn’t cheap — $1,000 for the most basic package, with an elite package costing up to $2,000. She’s also choosy about her clients.

“I don’t take people that come to me and have an unrealistic set of expectations or are extremely choosy. We’re trying to match people as soon as possible, and sometimes that’s a hard thing to do. But we don’t want to still be having discussions with a client after a year or two years. We want them to find a match, and so do they, or they wouldn’t have come to us,” she said. Singles on the rebound from long-term relationships also need time before they’re ready to pair up again, she added.

It’s an old-time service sped up for 21st-century singles with all the privacy and discretion customers need — a far cry from Internet dating sites.

“We’ve had conversations with people who were very popular with online daters, but even after meeting 50 people from a dating site, they couldn’t find someone. The Internet always has the possibility for misrepresentation, and we don’t have that,” Miller said.

“It’s a very emotional business. There’s no science to it. It’s just a lot of hard work,” she said.

Ever the optimist, Kakebeeke is confident Miller’s matchmaking talents will help her find a soul mate.

“Hey, it’s possible. I certainly hope so. I have a lot of confidence in Linda,” she said.

For more information, call 514-879-0573.