You make my heart smile

My ears pricked up yesterday when I heard on the radio that there’s a man drought on Sydney’s Northern Beaches.

A bar near DD’s place is supposed to host a single’s night, but it’s in jeopardy because no men have signed up.

The event is aimed at people aged over 45 and so far only women have RSVP’d.

Organiser Susan Crosse told News Corp: “I think some men are looking for younger women, that is certainly part of it. I think also laziness plays a part and some men may feel uncomfortable.

“But that’s why we have tried to choose neutral ground. A place where men and women feel comfortable coming forward.”

She said she picked Newport’s Mrs Robertson Wine Bar as it was intimate, personal and not intimidating.

“I think there are a lot of people out there who don’t know how to make the first step or know where to turn, and this is why we’re here,” she said.

News Corp noted that Crosse’s dilemma is not due to a lack of men in the area, with Census statistics recording 10,107 men aged 45 to 49 in the Northern Beaches Council area compared to 10,647 women. And there are 9002 men aged 50 to 54 compared to 9317 women and 8141 men aged 55 to 59 compared to 8298 women.

So what’s going on?

People rang the radio station with lots of theories, with many agreeing that older men aren’t interested in dating women their own age.

Luckily for me, DD wasn’t the slightest bit interested in romancing some young chicky babe.

He was definitely in the market for an older, infertile model.

And so a greying redhead piqued his interest when he stumbled across my lame profile on RSVP.

We were both on the rebound and very different people, but something clicked between us. We fell head over heels in like within days of our first meeting.

And I exited the fraught world of cyber dating after just one fateful in-person meeting with a bloke … despite him taking his thongs off and placing his bare feet on the chair beside me … oh, and deciding to throw every other dating “rule” out the window in the process.

During that brief first hour we spent together, he laid bare all the stuff I thought you weren’t supposed to download on a first date – the tough trevails that had led him to that fateful moment.

He didn’t pretend to be anything he wasn’t. And something about his honesty spoke to my soul. I’d also decided I wanted someone to love me for who I was, not some fantasy either they or I had created.

That honesty has become our strength – we don’t play games.

There are difficult times, but we talk them through.

We both have flaws and they sometimes drive us crazy, but we understand that people aren’t perfect.

We don’t see each other every day, but there’s a constant thread of contact between us, and every night ends with an electronic kiss.

Finding love in middle age feels like a gift that I get to unwrap over and over again. And it’s something I never take for granted.

Happy Valentine’s Day hot stuff!

Song of the day: Fleetwood Mac “You make loving fun”