Match.Com?

I’ve been divorced now for almost eight years. As I have mentioned before in this blog, I am very content with my life. People often ask me, though, “but aren’t you lonely?”.  I can emphatically say no, with some qualifications.  I like being alone. I find myself pleasant company! The only times I feel lonely are around the holidays and whenever I am in a social situation that is mostly couples.  That explains why I usually avoid the Bethlehem Counseling Holiday Party and why I am a little leery about attending a family wedding in September.

But before I became as content as I am, I went through a period where I thought I should date. After all, isn’t that what we do when we are single?  I signed up for Match.com. I also tried Our Time (for us older folks) and Plenty of Fish.  Let me tell you…that dating scene is crazy!! I never had more than a few dates with any one woman from the internet.  That was enough!!

Here are a few of my more interesting matches. There was one woman who seemed to be able to talk about nothing but ferrets. She had four ferrets and she couldn’t wait for me to meet them! Uh, no thanks.

Another woman seemed nice enough. When I told her my ex-wife was 22 years younger than I , she literally yelled at me saying “22 years younger? That was fucking stupid!”.  The entire restaurant heard this proclamation. As soon as my delicious burger was finished, I made a hasty exit.

I met another woman for a hike in Lehigh Parkway. It was supposed to be a nice conversational walk through the woods. That woman moved like she was being chased by a bear! I could barely keep up and ended up soaking wet with sweat and anxious to never see this woman again.

So here I am. Alone, but not lonely. Content. It reminds me that we don’t always have to follow the same path as others. We don’t always have to do the expected thing.  We can each forge our own life and make it the way we want it to be.

And besides…dating is expensive!

Enjoy your Friday and then your long weekend!