After the break up, all I could think was "This is it". I believed
there was very little chance that I could meet someone as a solo parent. The
solo parent was not a life I had planned, or was prepared to handle on my own.
I was prepared to make the best of it. Expecting that this would be the way
things were for at least the next five years.
For just about a year, I sat alone in the evenings, watching Facebook and
wondering what others were up to. Occasionally chatting friends, but mostly
watching NetFlix online. On an extremely rare occasion, I would get a night off
to blow off some steam with friends.
I checked out Match.com. Signed up for the free trial week. Unfortunately,
the psychobabble you read...the part that advises you about creating your
profile...scared me off. If I write this, it really means that...what?!? It was
officially over, for a while at least. I would be a strong single woman.
Being a strong single woman is what I dedicated my time to. Working to
provide for my young daughter so she would never look back and feel she was
slighted by me. Our living situation was not ideal, I did not have a ton of
money, but we were both happy, healthy, and safe. We would overcome this and
have a better life. Only time would tell.
After a long, hard, day at work -- Mother's Day to be exact -- I get a
facebook friend request from someone accompanied by a brief message introducing
himself. At first, I was completely skeptical. I had no idea who this guy was
and why he would find me of all people. Then I thought, "sure he can be my
facebook friend but it will most likely not be anything more. He's way to old
for me". We facebook chatted for a few days and then had a phone
conversation. I agreed to go out to dinner with him, thinking, "a free
meal? why not" still thinking of him as Jessyca's Dad since his daughter
had been in my mom's class the year Katelyn was born.
He picked me up and brought me a coloring book since I hadn't been feeling
well that week. He said it is what he and his daughters would do when they
didn't feel well. It was in a princess gift bag and came with a set of crayons.
Very cute and thoughtful.
Nice dinner and great conversation. He took me home and then we decided to
go back out to get a drink on the Downtown mall, I didn't want to invite him in
for a drink. I wasn't prepared for that. We talked for a couple more hours. Then
it hit me, he wasn't Jessyca's dad anymore -- he became Eric. He saw me as a
person, not just Katelyn's mom as I had been getting accustomed to. He
genuinely listened to my tragedies, failures, hopes, and dreams. The one
evening felt like a week of conversation.
Believe me, I know this all sounds ridiculous and cheesy. It was an amazing
summer, luckily I have my parents nearby to baby sit on occasion. Although we
both have children, we work diligently to make sure we have time for us outside
of time with our kids. So far...the future is bright. It has been an amazing 5
1/2 months.
Here's to the future...
