How I Date

I haven't talked much about the positives of my dating and marriage of my last marriage, prior to the divorce, and this post isn't to talk positively about my ex.  I intent to mention her very little, if at all.  However, I want to do this post to talk about how I date... how I romance and what can be expected of me to appreciate, even if it wasn't by my ex.  These are the qualities and skills that one can expect when in a relationship with me.

During the first several years of my dating and marriage with my ex, I took her to many restaurants around town.  It was fun to try new scenic places to eat and the see the architecture as we walked holding hands and such.  There were also tickets to movies, but these were often the fancy movie theaters.  I also took her to actual theater productions, ballet, and events at shopping centers around town.  One year we also went to the Renaissance Fair and dressed up to go there.  Since we both had kids, we made time away from them for romance by renting a hotel room, once a month, in a nice hotel.  It was like a mini vacation and a chance to connect.

Also common in the early years was many times of me bringing roses or her favorite type of chocolates.  I even proposed with a Starbucks cup box (because our early dates had been at Starbucks) filled with rose petals.  

Whoever is with me shouldn't expect exactly the same, as it is like presents... you craft it to the situation and the person, but I give these examples to show that I don't take romance lightly, and I make an effort to please the other person and to keep them interested and happy.  She may have failed to understand just how rare that is and gave it up without so much as an ask for me back or attempt to communicate, but others will not be so foolish.  I look forward to investing the same level of energy into making someone else happy that will not only gladly receive it but reciprocate with their own energy to make me happy, as well.  And... that will go on for the rest of my life.  I can't wait for those new adventures.