Vince

I haven't written much about dating on this blog out of respect for the people that I am dating and because I didn't want any future dates to read this and either be worried that I would write about them, or be worried about something I had written about a past datee. But, the truth is, only my close friends read this blog, and since you are my close friend, I'd like to tell you my news: I'm in love. It's true. It happened.

I am in love with the second of my on-line datees. We met in August, when I was already infatuated with someone else. He told me he'd be happy to hang out as friends anyway, so we went out for coffee. I brought another single friend along, hoping that perhaps the sparks between them would fly. No luck. But we did eat chocolate cake, laugh, and compare divorce stories between the three of us. It was a good start to a friendship that continued until Vince helped me decorate the Diva tree. We went out to lunch beforehand and I realized that all along I have been more comfortable talking to him about anything than any other man I had met. It was also great to have someone be happy just to see me happy. He sat on the floor and put hangers on the ornaments. "Don't you want to help decorate?" I asked, my hands covered in glitter. "Um, I think you probably know just where you want those ornaments," he said. Which translates into, "Of course I have no desire to stick sparkly pink, green, and blue things on a tree, but I am very happy to watch you enjoy doing it."

A few days later, we watched the Joy-Luck Club together. And the next morning I woke up to the startling realization that 1) Vince was the first thing I thought about and 2) I had what could only be termed a crush. The next day, we stopped "hanging out" and started "dating". I added him to my roster, and he added me to his. Over the course of the next month, our lists both got shorter, and pretty soon, it was just us.

Vince has been divorced as well. For him too, this is the first time he has felt something like this since the divorce. It's a little scary for me. I am trading in the whole set of dating-multiple-people dilemmas for the dating-one-person-seriously dilemmas. It's also thrilling. I feel happier than I have in years. I feel safe and secure with where I am. I am trying to stop myself from overthinking this and just let things develop. That's the news from Utah, where the women are strong, the men are good-looking, and the snow is above average.