I don’t date often, to put it mildly. In fact, until recently I hadn’t been on a single date in more than EIGHT YEARS. In large part, it just didn’t seem worth the bother – awkward dinners with someone I barely know, struggling to make small talk? Not my idea of a great time. In larger part, I don’t think a woman my age with a LOT of cats is considered much of a “prize” in the dating department.
I’d pretty much resigned to staying “dateless”. However, I recently reconnected with a man I’d known years ago. We’ll call him Kirk, since that’s his name. In 1993, I moved into the same building and started work at the same company as a woman we’ll call Patricia (since that’s her name). I got to know Patricia, her brother, and her sisters, and they invited me to several summer parties, weekend ski trips, etc. Kirk is a friend of Patricia’s brother and also attended most of these functions.
On the first ski trip, I had a few drinks (okay, more than a few) and sat in Kirk’s lap. For many men, this would be an obvious sign I was interested in them. Apparently, Kirk was too much of a gentleman to pursue a woman who’d had more than a few drinks, or just thought I‘d wanted to sit down and didn’t realize he was already sitting in that particular spot – because nothing came of it.
We continued to see each other at parties and ski trips over the years. Kirk lived in Wisconsin and I lived in Chicago, so the geographical situation was a bit of an obstacle – as well as the minor detail that for most of this time, I was dating someone else.
Around 1998 to 1999, Patricia, her brother, and her sister all moved out of the area, and the parties and ski trips stopped. I didn’t see Kirk anymore. However, a few months ago a conversation with a friend reminded me of him, and I decided to search for him on the Internet – a little activity I call “cyber-stalking”. I found him on Facebook, and discovered he’d moved to Chicago and now lived only six blocks from me! I sent him a message, effectively demanding he go to dinner with me. So, about fifteen to sixteen years after we first met, we had our first date. At the end of this date, I grabbed him and kissed him full on the mouth. This was considerably less subtle than sitting in his lap and got the point across – I’M INTERESTED. We’ve been dating ever since. I even changed my Facebook status to “In a relationship” which is about as official as it can get.
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Submitted for publication in The Greeley Citizen.
Congrats, Lynette! And I have to ask… has he met the cats? Do they approve?!?
Steph – I think the cats like Kirk more than they like me!
WOW! Lynette! This is great. Your confidence is inspiring!
That’s soo romantic. amazing how for so long he was so far away now just down the street!
This is a great story. Thanks for sharing.