I like meeting people. I didn't know I liked meeting people until I became separated and then divorced. I had spent the majority of my life isolating with my ex and our 3 sons. I've had decent luck with just meeting people and with OLD.
The first lady I dated I actually met on a group bike ride. We chatted while riding along after getting separated from the big group. We met the next day for another bike ride and then started meeting for walks and more bike rides and had a few dinners. She had been divorced for about 8 years and I was very straightforward that I was just separated. We stayed in the friend zone for about 5 months and seemed to spend a lot of time together. When my divorce became final, we both started moving toward a deeper relationship and had a great deal of fun with ski weekends, snowshoeing, wine tastings, hot springs soaking and other fun stuff. In the end, however, the difference in the stages of life we were both in were too much to overcome and we parted.
Later I dated a lady I had first connected with via OLD. We enjoyed bike rides, hikes, dinners and walks. However, also in the end, differences in lifestyles brought that to a close after about 3 months.
No regrets with either.
I dipped my feet back into the OLD world and have been very honest about the fact that I'm not sure I'm ready for more than casual dating and friendship. I've had some very fun "coffee dates", hikes, walks and some no strings attached intimacy. This weekend I'm meeting a new friend that just about killed me on a difficult hike in the mountains last weekend for an overnight camping trip and drive back into my town for a concert then back to the campground for the evening then a hike or kayak around a mountain lake on the next day.
I have another friend who I know from the gym. We've been chatting and talking on and off for a few months. We've become good friends. she's about to become an empty nester just like I soon will be. So we have that in common, even if a father's perspective is different than a mother's perspective.
I guess what it came down to for me was to be brave enough to start talking to people. There are other people like us out there. I was looking for friends and had a couple of nice and fun romances.
[This message edited by countrydirt at 3:36 AM, Wednesday, August 11th]
3 adult sonsMarried 32 years. DDay1 - June 2016, DDay 2 - April 2017, Final DDay - May 2020. Divorced - January 2021
Life is Good!