TAYLOR, Mich. (WXYZ) — Sitting in a coffee shop on Wednesday, John Czajka from Ecorse read us a message he sent to his now-wife Jill, who was living in River Rouge, on March 9, 2023.
"'They erased your post. You wanna grab some drinks sometime?'" John Czajka read.
That one message would change both of their lives forever.
"I didn’t know if I would find a good person, a good relationship at this stage of life," Jill Czajka explained.
John Czajka said, "I’d been in the dating scene for a long time and kind of given up."
It all started right before John Czajka sent that direct message.
Newly single and looking for a fresh start, Jill Czajka decided to take a leap of faith that day and post on a community Facebook page.
"I’d come out of like a dark chapter in my life and I had to figure out how to meet new people and build a new set of friends," Jill Czajka said. "So I posted on (Facebook group) Downriver and Friends."
The post said: "Where do people go to meet new people around here?"
"I got a bunch of responses. Some of them were not quite what I was expecting, so I quickly pulled the post down but in the few minutes it was up, he saw my post," Jill Czajka said.
"I seen her post and I went to go comment and it was gone already," John Czajka said. "So I looked for her to see if I could find her. I found her, hit her up."
That's when John Czajka asked Jill out for a date.
"The next night, we met up at Whiskeys on the Water... We sat there for five hours just talking," Jill Czajka said.
Sure, the two admit that there were some bumps in the road.
"Then I decided I didn’t like him and blew him off for like a month," Jill Czajka said.
John Czajka said, "Two or three times, she stopped returning my calls."
However eventually, the two adults, both guarded from past relationships, fell for one another.
"He told me, he’s like ‘I’m done giving you your space. I’m in it to get you this time,’" Jill Czajka recalled. "I was like, ‘OK, we’ll see about that.'"
In August of this year, John Czajka popped the question.
Jill Czajka posted on that same Facebook page with a "Year and a half update ..."
Thousands of community members showed their support. One person commented, "Congrats!! So where do people go to meet people?? Seems like it worked great for you two."
"It’s not a dating app," Jill Czajka said while laughing. "Other times, I’ve posted on there it’s been like to find a plumber."
"I wasn’t ready to get married again and I said I wouldn’t get married again, but she changed it," John Czajka said.
The two married one month after their engagement.
Today they are Mr. & Mrs. John and Jill Czajka.
