Anything Goes... almost!

Dating websites and merry-go-rounds have a lot in common. It all has to do with going around in circles, reaching for the gold ring and coming up empty handed, but having a ball in the process. Take yesterday for example, I woke up dateless. It’s spring in Florida and a spectacular day; breezy blue sky, windows wide open, Pandora playing all my favorite tunes, cleaning rag in hand and my computer purring. Can a computer purr, you may wonder. Well, mine did yesterday. I received email after email, brief correspondences with at least five men and wound up with two dates! At 4:00 it was Mario, a charming Italian baby of 46 years. Have I mentioned I am 64? My first email to him was “46-64”?

He countered with “yes, why not?” and so I asked myself the very same question – “Why not?” and made a date.
  

I should tell you I have never, ever gone out with a younger man. Oh, a few months or even a year younger – perhaps. The men I’ve been dating are my age or older and the problem seems to be that they are too old for me. So when Mario asked why not, I had to wonder if he were right. I wouldn’t want anyone to think I was a cougar or a coyote or whatever they call a woman who goes out with younger men!

I started this recent whirlwind of dating with 69 year old Joe, who introduced himself as the old man I was looking for! Was I looking for an old man? I knew something was wrong with that picture. I like to think I look younger than my 64 years and my mother has always advised me to act my age, so I guess I don’t. But 46? My son is 39 and he’s a mere boy. Perhaps Mario would prefer my 36 year old daughter…

So there I was, 4:00, sitting at an outdoor table of a local bistro, waiting for Mario. His picture did not do him justice. 6 feet tall, muscles, hair just a bit long. Mmmm…. I liked what I saw. He spoke almost perfect English with a sexy accent and the things he told me… sigh. It took every ounce of restraint I had to not invite him home with me, which was where, he made it perfectly clear, he wanted to go. He loved my voice, complimented my far from perfect figure, told me I looked like a very sensual woman and continued with details that would make me blush if I shared them. I was quickly falling in lust and at the same time every warning my mother had every issued was echoing in my head. Younger man, older woman, was he a scam artist or a serial killer? If he was looking for a wealthy woman, he should keep on looking I wanted to tell him.

He was charming, and very Italian. We spoke about wine, about Italy, his teenaged children and then he asked me what I liked in bed (oh, yes) and told me he would like to make love to me all day long… But my mother taught me well, darn her anyway, and I kept on refusing. That was Mario! Will I answer when he calls? I haven’t decided. Perhaps he is already setting up a date with a delighted older woman who will say yes and he will make her ecstatically happy…. C’est la vie.

Did I mention there were two dates yesterday? 60 years old and six foot two, Roger had no trouble identifying me sitting on a bench outside the local Starbucks. I guess my wild curls are a dead giveaway. Date #2 was from the mid-west and had recently sold his coffee plantation in Colombia. He’d only been in the area since January and was an appropriately older, interesting gentleman. We spoke a little Spanish, had some laughs about living in Latin American countries and even strolled over to the nearby kitchen store and perused the pots and pans! I went home alone and smiling all the way, wondering what might have been...

Until next time, friends and lovers...ciao!