I have taken a break from blogging. The other day on my Facebook page, I announced that I am in a relationship. My husband passed away over 5 years ago in a motorcycle accident. I had a very heavy heart and lost myself for a couple of years. There are times that I am still sad, but I have much happier times in my life.
So here is the beginning of the next chapter in my life. Follow along as I write on the pages.
So who is this man? Let me start with his name. Meet Pete. We have known each other since we were 14 years old. We grew up just a few miles apart and attended the same high school. It is not one of those stories where we dated, were in love and then went off to different collegs to marry another.
We did date …one single date. We both had a crush on each other. I was the cheerleader and he was the star athlete. Our ill-fated date ended with him receiving two well-placed slaps for being FRESH! Oh yes! A bit of high school drama. We never dated again. His ego was bruised and I was too high and mighty to consider I had over reacted to him making the next move while making out.
Flash forward 15 years: We were both married to our college sweethearts, living a few blocks apart, and our children, unbeknownst to us, were attending the same elementary school. While we are trolling the school halls on back-to-school night hunting for our kids’ classrooms so we can meet new teachers for the year, we bump into each other. There was a quick exchange of introductions of our spouses and we flit off to meet the teachers. We were both surprised to see each other and I think a bit uncomfortable. This is not where the story picks up. We don’t become fast friends and have BBQs together and play dates with the kids. We occasionally run into each other. And that is that. Well obviously it isn’t!!!
Flash forward to 2010: This is where the story picks up again. Over 15 years have passed. I have moved to Danville, remarried and my children are nearly grown. On July 25, Keith dies in a terrible accident. My children post on my Facebook page about his death, the services and try to answer messages from well-meaning friends. It was all very overwhelming for us all. Among the messages is a brief, very well-written note of condolence from Pete and an offer to help around the house if needed. It is one of the messages that dropped through the cracks.
Nearly a year passes and we begin to converse on Facebook and he again offers to help around the house. Honestly, I needed some help! We decide to meet for coffee, which led to lunch and 5 hours of non-stop talking. The date ends (he says it wasn’t a date), with him grabbing my face gently and kissing me…one very gentle, quick kiss. I sat in my car for a few minutes with a smile on my face and wondering what just happened. He went to his car and regretted kissing the grieving widow. We did not see each other for a few weeks. We exchanged a few messages and flirted a bit. I realized that I was not ready to date. I was still in a lot of pain and Pete was fresh out of a 25 year marriage. But somehow, we started to date and fell in love.
Truth be told, we were not in a good place emotionally to be in a serious relationship and our short love affair looked like a high school romance with neither of us making sound relationship decisions. The ending was painful for both of us. There was a lot of anger and hurtful actions that left scars.
Flash forward another 3 years. Time passed and Pete and I dated several people. Okay, I dated a lot of men. We both had other relationships and yet, we both kept thinking about the other.
Pete had just ended a relationship and I had thrown in the towel and bailed from online dating. I was going to take a break for a while. So how did we reconnect? Well, a mutual friend was getting married, and I decided to ask Pete to be my escort. He was just out of a relationship and he turned me down. My ego was a bit bruised, but I understood. As time passed, we stayed in contact and decided to have lunch, just two old friends catching up. By the end of the lunch, we both realized that there was still a flame.
We have decided to give our relationship a serious go.
So that is our love story and the new chapter in my life has begun from the old pages that were written decades before.
100datestoamazing 