Larry:
I went back and read all your posts. Do not give up hope! I nearly did before I met my honey. We’re both in our mid-40s, btw.
This is much easier to say now than it was for me to hear before I met him: Remember what you want (hand-in-hand friend), remember who you are (a good man), don’t settle.
I found a blog post that was inspirational to me during the Shark Pool dating phase. I doubt that I can post a link here, so google “Cheerleaders, chumps and dragonslayers.” It was written as advice to young women, but it applies to men and women of any age.
“So, to those young girls on the cusp of womanhood, take this advice for what it is worth:
Be virtuous, and find yourselves a dragonslayer. I am not saying be a prude. Virtue retains its value better than either virginity or popularity. Virtue is what cannot be savaged by the years, as beauty can. Virtue is desired by those worth desiring.
Dragonslayers are men of virtue and they seek the same of their women. Because they practice virtue, they are quite adept at knowing it when they see it. The same is for you; in practicing virtue, you shall be able to know it when you see it. Chumps are not dragonslayers, they are chumps. Chumps have no character, no virtue. They are a waste of the same in you.
So, be virtuous, and find yourselves a dragonslayer.”
