RIGHT TIME RIGHT PLACE

He spotted, reeled in the right one in record time

Tammy Gore and Rex White talked every day and every night while Tammy was on a cruise with her mother. Rex put his heart on his sleeve in those messages, including this coy gem — “I told her the only thing I would change about her was her [last] name.”
Tammy Gore and Rex White talked every day and every night while Tammy was on a cruise with her mother. Rex put his heart on his sleeve in those messages, including this coy gem — “I told her the only thing I would change about her was her [last] name.”

There might be plenty of fish in the sea, but landing the right one is tricky. Take Rex White. He wasn't hearing from the right kind of women on the dating site of the same metaphor -- PlentyOfFish.com.

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This is a photo of Tammy Gore on her online dating profile.

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This is a photo of Rex White on his online dating profile.

"There were some people I had tried to talk to before and it was unnatural. It was just too hard to talk to them," the 40-year-old says. "We couldn't find any common interests at all."

The first time I saw my spouse:

She says: “I think I fell in love with him.”

He says: “I knew I needed to get to know her more, and I was glad she looked like the picture she put on the website.”

On our wedding day:

She says: “I knew that was going to be the rest of my life.”

He says: “I was happy I finally changed her name.”

To have a long marriage, you must:

He says: “Be 100 percent honest, even when you know your spouse is not going to like what you have to say. And always kiss each other goodnight, no matter what.”

She says: “Tell each other you love each other before you go to bed, even if at that moment you might not really like each other.”

He decided to change his strategy, adding to his profile a bit about what's most important to him: his children.

Tammy Gore had been on Plenty of Fish for a couple of weeks in July, but the few guys she had interacted with were not her type.

"It seemed like everyone there was just about one thing, the hookup. We're not in high school anymore. That's not where I am in my life," says Tammy, 45.

Rex's profile caught her eye because it implied he was looking for something different.

"He had a picture of himself with a little blond-headed girl," she says.

She sent him a simple message.

"Hi there."

Rex, who has custody of his children -- Max, 17; Alex, 14, and Kadence, 4 -- replied, and they chatted through the website for a couple of days, then talked on the phone for a couple more.

"A week later we had lunch,'' Tammy says.

They met at a Mexican restaurant in Maumelle, near where she is payroll supervisor at Travel Nurse Across America, and where she frequently eats with co-workers.

"It was kind of a safe location," Tammy says. "He pulled up in the parking lot right next to me. I've never been a romantic person, or believed in the fairy tales or love at first sight. I've always thought you have to take some time to fall in love with someone. But in that split second I saw him, it was, 'Oh, hang on a minute. What is this feeling I'm having?'"

They had a quick lunch -- half an hour -- before Rex, a project supervisor for Comfort Systems U.S.A. Arkansas, had to rush out unexpectedly to address a problem at work.

"I was really attracted to her and I thought she was super sweet and I was thankful that she was as pretty as, or even more beautiful than, her pictures on Facebook. I was thinking about that catfish stuff," Rex says, referring to the term often used to denote people who present themselves falsely on social media or elsewhere online.

He worried she would think he didn't like her because he left in such a hurry.

"That's where my nervousness was. I was hoping she really did believe me that I had to go back to work and not think I was just trying to make an excuse," he says.

He walked her to her car after lunch.

"He reached over and gave me the softest, sweetest hug," she says.

Two days later, Tammy left for a 10-day cruise with her mother. Her flight from Little Rock was delayed because of a mechanical problem, which meant they missed their connection in Atlanta and ended up driving a rental car from Atlanta to Orlando so they could board the ship on time.

"All that time I was talking to Rex," she says, "I was thinking this man had known me for a week and he was so concerned about my well-being."

They talked every day and every night while she was gone. Tammy bought a social media package as soon as she boarded the ship so they could stay in contact. Rex put his heart on his sleeve in the messages they exchanged.

"I told her the only thing I would change about her was her name," he says.

By October, they were of one mind -- that they would be married sometime -- but they hadn't talked specifics. Would there be a spring wedding, maybe? Or would they wait until the fall?

On Thanksgiving Day, as they cleaned the kitchen at Rex's house, he slipped his arms around her waist and proposed.

"He just leaned over and put his arms around me and said, 'I know we've talked about this but my heart tells me I need to ask you this now. I don't have a ring but will you marry me?'" Tammy says.

His words were spontaneous.

"I hadn't planned to ask her then. The time felt right and I'd been thinking about it," he says. "The more that I was around Tammy, the more I didn't like when I wasn't around Tammy. Other than my kids, she's the first person I've ever met that I can't live without."

They exchanged their vows on Jan. 1, just two weeks shy of six months after Tammy first said hello.

"We wanted 2016 to be a great year for both of us, so that's when we decided to start our life together," Tammy says. "It was a complete life change for me, but in an amazing way though, going from not thinking about being a mom to being stepmom to three amazing children."

If you have an interesting how-we-met story or if you know someone who does, please call (501) 378-3496 or email:

[email protected]

High Profile on 02/07/2016

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