December
1999: The romance section of my newsletters seem to
get the most comment, despite the extreme lack of action over
the years. Go figure. Over the last three years there has actually
been something to write about, though.
Right: Diana and I standing among Mother's flowers in
June of 1998.
My first
serious romance in years, with all the thrill, joy, and agony,
was with Diana Fowler. We've been friends for years, acquaintances
since early in college and closer after she left in the late
'80s. Several years ago she moved back to northern Indiana, where
her parents were from and where she was born. So a long-distance
friendship turned into a long-distance romance. We both had our
hangups mine was basically an unwillingness to make a commitment
and we eventually agreed to give up on the romance and
try to rescue the friendship. That has been a rough road as well,
but I think we've turned a corner and may actually come out of
it all still very good friends.
Since
then I've done some dating without having a "girlfriend".
Dancing has been an opportunity to meet lots of attractive women,
some of them available. I realize that I've reached another milestone
in aging. I've found myself very attracted to women who have
daughters old enough to be attractive, and even potentially datable,
as well. If I were to marry one of the mothers, I could possibly
skip parenthood and go directly to becoming a grandpa!
Above Left: Beth and daughter Lauren at Gotta
Dance in Asheville, North Carolina. Right: Deanna in the
foreground with daughter, Mia, highlighted, at the Florida
Dance Rhapsody. All lovely, legally-of-age women, and also
delightful dancers. This is not to say available, you understand,
certainly not to me -- but the concept is novel and marks another
milestone into my getting "on up there" in age, if
not maturity.
Marriage doesn't seem likely anytime soon, though. I've still
got many philosophical weeds to mow. With me searching for my
basic life direction and a basis for my ethics and morality,
it will be very challenging to find someone suitable to share
those things over what's left of a lifetime. But, you never know.
For now it's kind of fun to date again!
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