Flirty at 50
My “FLIRTY AT 50“situation started 10 weeks prior to my 50th birthday. Oh, I was “available” for dating. 12 years prior, due to my sudden widowhood, numerous already married suitors valiantly tried to woo this 30 something available female. I rejected every one of them with a hasty, and I might add, disgusted reply. Since I imagined propriety existed, if a mutual friend arranged a ‘blind date”, I permitted myself that opportunity. One wealthy entrepreneur impressed my wee kidlets with his gold Ferrari, but the chasm between our differing life-styles was insurmountable. Another went straight to my bedroom and disrobed! Oh My!! He was promptly told to “Dress and LEAVE!” After these failed situations, I simply decided to close the door to any further dating disappointments.
Fast forward several dateless years to the end of June in my 50th year. School was over. My young sons had finished high school and hence no longer needed Mom. Suddenly it hit me! I was alone and I hated it! That evening, as I walked through my house, cup of tea in hand to drink outside on the porch, I stopped at a shelved photo of my late husband and verbally “told him” how sad and angry I felt at his sudden dying, and leaving me with the prospect of a lonely future. I’ll admit it...I felt sorry for myself. This was NOT the life I envisioned years before.
Later, while sitting outside, I noticed a man on a bicycle wheeling his way into my driveway. “Hi there”, As he approached, I realized this now bearded and heavier fellow was Gary, an old friend from my church congregation. (Many years prior, he and I had similar family units...a loving spouse and 2 children.) In fact, the 8 of us often socialized together. Furthermore, my late husband and Gary developed a friendship as they worked together on church committees. However, Gary and his family moved away to eastern Ontario and our connectedness reduced itself to the yearly Christmas card. Unknown to me, his marriage had dissolved, and his children were university bound, so he decided to move back to his former neighbourhood. That evening, we sat reconnecting and discussing what had transpired over the past 10 plus years. Our first “date” was a wonderful memory-making all-day/all-evening Canada Day 1997 celebration. Was it “Devine Intervention” following that photo scolding?!?! I firmly believe it was! Following a rather lengthy 8-year courtship, we were quietly married on January 15, 2005. The pre-wedding music that we mutually selected was Mary Chapin Carpenter’s rendition of “GROW OLD ALONG WITH ME, THE BEST IS YET TO BE”. Indeed, it is!
By Donna