He brought me flowers

He showed up at my doorstep with both hands behind his back.  I had only seen him in his work garb, and for a welder, you can imagine what that is.  He cleaned up real well - nice black ostrich boots, nice black pants, vivid blue dress shirt, and a real nice sports coat.  I must say, I don't think a man has dressed up so nice for me before.  The flowers were purple and yellow.

And we were off.  In his truck.

He hadn't asked a woman out for four years - so he had been nervous about this one.  He only asks a woman out if he sees it going long term...he thinks long term.  He said he didn't know if that made me uneasy.  I said no, that's fine.  And it is.

But.  I figured if he is thinking long term, then we might as well discuss some things from the get go.  Oh boy.  What a conversation, on the way to dinner.  We hadn't even eaten yet!  But I explained to him that there are things that have caused friction and a broken heart in a past relationship and I knew they could be issues with other relationships.  And this man obviously didn't need a young girl leading him on, so best to be honest and upfront about certain things, even if it is before dinner.  It just happened that way.

"I don't drink"

"Neither do I."

"And I don't have sex before marriage."

"So...you're a virgin?"

"Yep."

"Wow.  Uh, congratulations."

"Uh, thanks."  (And to top it all off)  "And when I get married, I want to be married in the temple.  (The M word in the first 15 minutes of a first date, I think that sets a record).  Sorry, maybe I should have told you I'm a Mormon when you asked me out."

"Naw, that's okay!  It doesn't bother me.  Does it bother you that I'm not a Mormon?"

"No.  It's just that I have had a relationship in the past where basic beliefs were different and it caused a lot of heartache, lots of sadness."

"Oh."

We sat at one of those little booths - you know - where you are up high and the table is so tiny that you have to sit close.  Romantic were his words.  I try to smile as sincerely as I can.

I'm 29, he's 52.  "But age doesn't mean anything."  Sometimes, no, and sometimes, yes...you could be my father!

Dinner was good.  And we did have a good time getting to know each other better.  He has three purple hearts among some other medals.  He's a real hero, actually.  He's seen a lot - more than he would have wanted to.  For someone who has been through what he has, I am pretty impressed with his demeanor, big heart, and congenial personality.

Dinner ended at 9 and when we walked out the snow was falling heavily.  He had more than an hours to drive, with a not-so-pleasant canyon to pass through.  So we called off the bowling.  Our relationship wasn't going anywhere anyway, we had decided.

His parents were hoping I would be a guest at Thanksgiving dinner, his sisters were anxious to call him for the update, his buddies were curious about the girl he's been talking about for over a month, and his backyard had plans if it worked out between us...he had it all planned out...and hoped his stature and state of fitness would impress me.  And frankly, for a 52 year old, it did.  Oh, and he can purr really well, because he purred at me while we were walking to my door.  Or maybe it was a tiger growl....

We wished each other the best, and that we hoped we would each find the right person.  I asked him to call me when he made it home, since he had a treacherous way to go.  1.5 hours later he called and I thanked him and we parted, as friends.