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True Romance: His honest appraisal hid a beautiful man | News for Dallas, Texas | Dallas Morning News | Columnist Darla Atlas | Dallas Lifestyles Columnists | Dallas Morning News
When Richard Jessen sat down to compose his profile for an online dating site, he decided to just put it all out there.
"I am 41, divorced, have two beautiful daughters, I am deaf, I don't have a job and I live at home with my parents," he wrote.
His inbox wasn't exactly flooded with takers.
"I got no responses to just the ad alone," says Richard, 48, who wrote it in 2002 after being laid off from his job at E-Systems. "If I e-mailed someone, in most cases no one even responded. If they did, they just said they weren't interested."
But Richard still felt that honesty was the best policy: "I decided if I couldn't find someone with the truth, then I would just not find anyone online. I was honest, and I got one response."
That came from Mindy Beers, a Dallas medical-equipment sales rep who had been single for four years following a divorce. After she'd posted a profile and picture, he sent her his frank e-mail.
"I wasn't sure how to respond," recalls Mindy, 51. But after they started corresponding, "I thought Richard was kind and sweet and so handsome. But falling in love with a deaf man with two girls aged 5 and 7 at the time – with no job and living at home – was not what I had in mind."
Still, they decided to meet at a restaurant in August 2002. Mindy, who had undergone gastric bypass surgery and lost 70 pounds by then, says their face-to-face encounter was more friendly than romantic.
As for Richard's hearing impairment – the result of German measles at the age of 3 – it wasn't a hindrance, thanks to cochlear implants he received in 1994 along with his ability to read lips. It also helped that Mindy's late mother was an interpreter for the deaf.
As they got to know each other, Richard, who is a painter, offered to paint Mindy's living room. Two weeks later, she gave him a key to her house so he could work on it when he pleased.
Trust was immediately there, as was lots of fun.
"When I was with Mindy," Richard says, "we were always laughing."
By September, their feelings had turned romantic. Mindy met his girls, Gloria Rose and Holly, for the first time at the Plano Balloon Festival.
"It was love at first sight with those two little girls," Mindy says. By the end of the festival, Mindy and Richard were carrying the sleeping children in their arms.
"I knew they would love her," he says.
The following month, Richard left for a much-anticipated trip to Hawaii. Mindy drove him to the airport – and drove away with the first "I love you" from Richard.
"I'd been so excited about this trip, and then when it came time to leave I hated to leave Mindy," he says. "I couldn't wait to get home to her."
The two wed on Sept. 20, 2003. Their honeymoon cruise wasn't without pitfalls; Richard's cochlear implant broke, and Mindy caught a flu bug almost right after the ceremony. Still, Richard looks back on those days as "a dream come true. And the dream is still living today."
The two now live in Rowlett, where Richard "takes care of the kids and the yard and the dog and the house," says Mindy, adding that his hard work resulted in a coveted Yard of the Month award from their neighborhood association.
"I love being Mr. Mom," he says. "I just needed someone to give me that job."
Mindy was also waiting for the right person to enrich her life. Growing up, she'd never experienced an idyllic family Christmas, due to her parents' divorce and her mother's medical issues.
"All you want is just a family," she says.
As an adult living in Dallas, her dad and siblings were in other cities, so she spent the holidays by herself. Every Christmas Eve, "I'd drive around alone, looking at Christmas lights and see families all having fun," she says. "I wanted that so badly but never thought I would have it."
Things changed in December 2002. Richard and Mindy were at his parents' house for Christmas Eve dinner when Mindy found herself in front of their stained-glass window, watching a steady stream of cars driving past the lights.
"I just started sobbing and crying," Mindy recalls. When asked what was wrong, she said, "For the first time in my whole life, I'm on the inside looking out. I've got my family."
The gratitude works both ways.
"She loved me when I had nothing," Richard says. "I felt like I had died and Mindy brought life back to me."
Thinking back to that first e-mail from the unemployed man who lived with his parents, "it's still amazing that I even responded," she says. "But if I had just looked at what he had to offer on the outside, I never would have found the most perfect, wonderful guy inside."
When Richard Jessen sat down to compose his profile for an online dating site, he decided to just put it all out there.
"I am 41, divorced, have two beautiful daughters, I am deaf, I don't have a job and I live at home with my parents," he wrote.
His inbox wasn't exactly flooded with takers.
"I got no responses to just the ad alone," says Richard, 48, who wrote it in 2002 after being laid off from his job at E-Systems. "If I e-mailed someone, in most cases no one even responded. If they did, they just said they weren't interested."
But Richard still felt that honesty was the best policy: "I decided if I couldn't find someone with the truth, then I would just not find anyone online. I was honest, and I got one response."
That came from Mindy Beers, a Dallas medical-equipment sales rep who had been single for four years following a divorce. After she'd posted a profile and picture, he sent her his frank e-mail.
"I wasn't sure how to respond," recalls Mindy, 51. But after they started corresponding, "I thought Richard was kind and sweet and so handsome. But falling in love with a deaf man with two girls aged 5 and 7 at the time – with no job and living at home – was not what I had in mind."
Still, they decided to meet at a restaurant in August 2002. Mindy, who had undergone gastric bypass surgery and lost 70 pounds by then, says their face-to-face encounter was more friendly than romantic.
As for Richard's hearing impairment – the result of German measles at the age of 3 – it wasn't a hindrance, thanks to cochlear implants he received in 1994 along with his ability to read lips. It also helped that Mindy's late mother was an interpreter for the deaf.
As they got to know each other, Richard, who is a painter, offered to paint Mindy's living room. Two weeks later, she gave him a key to her house so he could work on it when he pleased.
Trust was immediately there, as was lots of fun.
"When I was with Mindy," Richard says, "we were always laughing."
By September, their feelings had turned romantic. Mindy met his girls, Gloria Rose and Holly, for the first time at the Plano Balloon Festival.
"It was love at first sight with those two little girls," Mindy says. By the end of the festival, Mindy and Richard were carrying the sleeping children in their arms.
"I knew they would love her," he says.
The following month, Richard left for a much-anticipated trip to Hawaii. Mindy drove him to the airport – and drove away with the first "I love you" from Richard.
"I'd been so excited about this trip, and then when it came time to leave I hated to leave Mindy," he says. "I couldn't wait to get home to her."
The two wed on Sept. 20, 2003. Their honeymoon cruise wasn't without pitfalls; Richard's cochlear implant broke, and Mindy caught a flu bug almost right after the ceremony. Still, Richard looks back on those days as "a dream come true. And the dream is still living today."
The two now live in Rowlett, where Richard "takes care of the kids and the yard and the dog and the house," says Mindy, adding that his hard work resulted in a coveted Yard of the Month award from their neighborhood association.
"I love being Mr. Mom," he says. "I just needed someone to give me that job."
Mindy was also waiting for the right person to enrich her life. Growing up, she'd never experienced an idyllic family Christmas, due to her parents' divorce and her mother's medical issues.
"All you want is just a family," she says.
As an adult living in Dallas, her dad and siblings were in other cities, so she spent the holidays by herself. Every Christmas Eve, "I'd drive around alone, looking at Christmas lights and see families all having fun," she says. "I wanted that so badly but never thought I would have it."
Things changed in December 2002. Richard and Mindy were at his parents' house for Christmas Eve dinner when Mindy found herself in front of their stained-glass window, watching a steady stream of cars driving past the lights.
"I just started sobbing and crying," Mindy recalls. When asked what was wrong, she said, "For the first time in my whole life, I'm on the inside looking out. I've got my family."
The gratitude works both ways.
"She loved me when I had nothing," Richard says. "I felt like I had died and Mindy brought life back to me."
Thinking back to that first e-mail from the unemployed man who lived with his parents, "it's still amazing that I even responded," she says. "But if I had just looked at what he had to offer on the outside, I never would have found the most perfect, wonderful guy inside."
